



vw^ 







LIBRAE! OF CONGRESS, i 

: III AMERIi 



i 



' 









A 

SKETCH 

OF THE 

DENOMINATIONS 

OF THE 

CHRISTIAN WORLD; 

ACCOMPANIED WITH 

A PERSUASIVE TO RELIGIOUS MODERATION,, 

To which is prefixed an Account of 

Atheism, Deism, Theophilantkropism, Jifr 
daism, Makometanism and Christianity* 

ADAPTED TO THE PRESENT TIMES. 

By JOHNEVANS, A. M. 

FIRST BOSTON, 
FROM THE NINTH LONDON EDITION, 

With Corrections and Improvements. 

Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

PAUL. 

BOSTON: 

PRINTED BY E. C. BEALS, FOR R. LOTHIAN, JUN 

SO* 75, STATE-STREET. 

1807. 






-\ 



\4' 



A 



LC Control Number 



tmp96 028396 



PREFACE. 



>&^s&s&^&/F 



THAT the Author is gratified by the 
repeated editions of this little work, on 
which he has bestowed many a laborious 
hour, it would be affectation in him to 
deny — and he flatters himself that the cir- 
culation of T<wenty-fi°ve Thousand copies, 
(the number which has issued from the 
press) must contribute in some degree ta 
extend the empire of religious knowledge 
and Christian charity. In the present im- 
pression he has attended carefully to re- 
cent communications, and where indivi- 
duals had sent confused and contradictory 
accounts of their own party > he has endea- 
voured to adjust their claims with impar- 



4 rui 

; tain in till 

iperable 

dill; In m pat 

: and in 

both 
his grief and astonishment. But he is per- 
suaded that could the professors of Chris- 
tianity be once brought to listen candidly 
fo each other's opinions — they would 
not only be the less likely to be led away 
the clamours 6f bigotry, bu* they 
would become more thoroughly disposed 
cp the unity of the spirit in the bond 
t — 

Fountain of Being ! teach them to devote 
To • urpose, action, word and thou;: 

if hope — thy lot* their only boast, 
: ost. 
Hannah More, 

The Author is pleased to find, that the 
Biographical Illustrations of the Frontis- 
piece, prove acceptable to young readers, 
avIio cannot be supposed to be better ac- 
quainted with the principal characters* 



PREFACE. g 

than with the leading opinions of the re- 
ligious community. And some informa- 
tion however short, was thought to be in- 
teresting — of persons, who on account of 
their talents, learning and piety, have in 
a manner, given laws to the several dis- 
tricts of Christendom. Nor will it be im- 
proper just to mention, that the Reca- 
pitulatory Table at the end of the work? 
by being familiarised to the young mind 
has been found conducive to improve- 
ment* 

From a friend who has some time age 
left Paris, the Author learns that the 
Sketch is translated into the French and 
German languages, under the superinten- 
dence of Messrs- Vos and Co. celebrated 
booksellers at Leipsic. May its increasing 
circulation prove the means of diffusing a 
spirit of free enquiry — and of promoting 
the exercise of true liberality. " There is 

a somewhat" says that able Defender of 
&2 



6 TREFACE- 

lion, the present Bishop of 
LandatT, kv in our common faith, in wh 
ajll I ttd that somewhat is in my 

apinion % circmnstance of such ineffable 
importance, that I will never refuse the 
right hand of fellowship, to him who ac- 
knowledges its truth — never think or 
speak of him with disrespect, nor with true 
Pharisaical pride, esteem myself to be 
more orthodox, more acceptable to my 
Redeemer than he is, and that somewhat is 
Eternal Life, the gift of God through 
Jesus Christ !" 

And Mr. Jay of Bath, in his excellent 
Sermons, remarks that " the readiest way 
in the world to thin heaven, and replenish 
the regions of hell, is to call in the spirit of 
bigotry. This will immediately arraign 
and condemn, and execute all that do not 
bow down and worship the image of oar 
idolatory. Possessing exclusive preroga- 
tives -, it rejects every other claim — 



PREFACE. 7 

" Stand by, I am sounder than thou. The 
temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, 
the temple of the Lord are we !" How 
many of the dead has this intolerance sen- 
tenced to eternal misery, who will shine 
like stars in the kingdom of our Father ! — 
how many living characters does it not re- 
probate as enemies to the cross of Christ, 
who are placing in it all their glory ! No 
wonder, if under the influence of this con- 
suming zeal, we form lessening views of 
the number of the saved. I only am left — 
yes, they wefew indeed if none belong to 
them, who do not belong to your party— 
that do not see with your eyes — that do 
not believe election with you, or universal 
redemption with you— that do not worship 
under a steeple with you, or in a meeting 
with you — that are not dipped with you, 
or sprinkled with you ! But hereafter we 
shall find that the righteous were not so 
circumscribed ; when we shall see — many 
coming from the east) and from the west, 



8 PREFA 

from the north, an south, to sit 

down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in 

kingdom of heaven ?" Were these truly 

more prevalent 
among professors of every description, the 
ravages of infidelity would cease — Ch 
ians themselves become more united, and 
rapid advances would be thus making 
towards their moral and religious improve- 
ment. 

In this imperfect state to see juat alike, 
with respect to the doctrines of revelation, 
is impossible ; though surely it is in the 
power of every individual, acknowledging 
the divinity of the Sa\ , to 

cherish the kind and charitable d ion, 

for which KB was eminently dist 
Indeed, by the cultivation of this temper 
alone, we shall mo illy diffuse the 

triumphs of 01 nlinl Ctttistk 

But the author having already fully 
ted the origin, nature, &nd design of 



PREFACE, 9 

this little publication in his Explanatory 
Dedication, will only add — this animating 
consideration — that notwithstanding the 
jarrings and contentions of parties, for 
their several opinions and modes of wor- 
ship, which the subsequent pages attempt 
to pourtray, the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
undebased by the prejudices, and uncon- 
trouled by the passions of frail humanity, 
continues to operate like the great powers 
of nature, with a silent but irresistible en~ 
ergy for the renovation of mankind, 



THE 

FRONTISPIECE 

SIOGRAPHICALLY ILLUSTRATED, 

JOHN WICKLIFFE was born In the North 
of England about the year 1324, and educated at 
Oxford. He was the first person in this country 
who openly condemned the errors and corrup- 
tions of Popery. The Monks at the University 
excited his indignation ; but the Pope taking 
their part against him, he was obliged to jjive 
way and withdraw into the country. His 
place of retirement was Lutterworth in Leices- 
tershire, of which living he had for some time 
teen in possession, and where -part of his pulpit 
may be seen standing at this day. Here he con- 
tinued his opposition to the Romish Church with 
equal steadiness ; but had he not been patroniz- 
ed by the Duke of Lancaster, he must have 
fallen a victim to his fidelity. He died peace- 
.ably in his bed at Lutterworth, in 1384, leaving 
behind him many followers. The chief of his 



12 

works is entitled Trialogus, being a dialogue 
withthr -Truth, a Li<*, and Wisdom! 

He wrote sever*] things both in Latin and 
isbj but this is almost the only work which 
printed A to a decree of the 

Council of Constance, hold in 1416, his bones 
W€re dug up and burnt, his books forbidden, and 
hie memory branded with the most opprobrious 

y. But these empty fulminations sn 
only to promote the glorious cause which 
Wickliffe espoused ; and hence he has obtained 
that honourable title, the Morning star of the 
Reformation ! On this account it is, that his 
head stands Jzrsf among the Potraits prefixed to 
this publication. 

Martin Luther, born 1483, at lsleben, a 
town of Saxony, in Germany. After passing 
through the usual stages of education at one of 
their Uni , he entered the order of the 

August iiiia.ii Monks. His learning was coi 
erable, and his spirit unconquerable. Indul- 
ge m 5 sold by Leo the Xth in order to ob- 
tain money for the building of St. Peter's at 
-, Luther it t his face against a measure so 

to the interests I and pit 

m therefore being sounded — the Ro: 
Church v ken to its foundation, and tl 

con\uM\. terminated in the Reforma- 

tion. But tike Wickliffe the Reformer would 



13 



been frustrated in his attempt, had not some 
of the German Princes (particularly Frederick of 
Saxony) taken him under their protection. After 
having written many books, and exerted himself on 
various occasions with a wonderful intrepidity, Lu- 
ther died in the year 1546, lamented by his follow r - 
ers, and revered by the Protestant world. His tem- 
per, it must be confessed, was violent, but the 
times seem to have required such a disposition. 
He, indeed, appears to have been raised up by 
Providence for that stupendous work which he 
accomplished. 

John Calvin was born at Noyon, in Picardy, 
1509 ; he received his education at Paris and 
other places where different branches of literature 
were taught with celebrity.- Discovering early 
marks of piety, his father designed him for the 
church, and accordingly he was soon presented 
to a living near Noyon, the place of his nativity* 
He, however, conceiving a dislike to the corrup- 
tions of Popery, quitted the Church, and turned 
his attention to the law. Visiting Paris, he made 
himself known to those who had privately em- 
braced the Reformation. But a persecution aris- 
ing against the Reformers, he went to Basil, 
where he published his famous work, Institu- 
tions of the Christian Religion, which spread 
abroad his fame, though, it is said, he was then 
desirous of living in obscurity. Not long after 
B 



1 1 

r and Piofessor of Di- 
vinity i. In t 
ted himself with 

in promoting nation. 1 i the 

:ming to discharge I 
tation to tl with 1; 

However great and even good I be pro- 

noun , who are m , his 

burning : iting 

against the doctrine of the Trinity, leaves a 
upon his memcr 

Richard Baxter, was bom at Rowton, in 
Shroj shirej 1615, and falling into tin >f ig- 

norant Bchoolmast 

;ular education. Taking orders of 
the Bishop of Winchester, fit bet mister of 

Kidderminster, where an uncommon degro 
SUCCett attended his ministry, but the Civil Wars 

h broke out soon after 1 ment at 

place, sadly interrupted his labours. Upon 

>n of Charles the Second, he refused the 
Bishopric of Worce. ' I, for no 

favour but that of remaining at hi Kid- 

derarinster, which was denied him. Upon the 
Bartholomew act, he was i , with a 

large number of the Gen to con- 

on certain conditions to the Church of E 
From this period, to the time ol 



15 



he suffered the most vexatious persecutkms, on 
account of his religious opinions, with a firm- 
ness which did honour to his piety. He was 
even tried before that barbarian Jefferies, who 
condemned him to a long and tedious imprison- 
ment. His publications were astonishingly nu- 
merous, for his Practical Works make four vo- 
lumes in folio. Bishop Burnet says, that " he 
was his whole life long a man of great zeal and 
much simplicity." 

Willi an Penn was born in London, 1644; 
he was the son of Admiral Penn, who was great- 
ly offended with him for joining the Quakers ; 
but, previous to his death, he became recon- 
ciled to him. He suffered much on account 
of his religious sentiments, but adhered to 
them with stedfastness. His famous book, No 
Cross, No Croivn, was written by him during 
his confinement in the Tower of London. He 
lived much of his time in Sussex, and acompani- 
ed George Fox and Robert Barclay, on a mission 
to Holland and Germany. In 1681, Charles the 
Second, in lieu of arrears due to his Father, grant- 
ed him a province in North America, since called 
after him Pennsylvania, Thither he went, and 
having made the necessary improvements, gave 
just and wise laws to his new settlement. To his 
honour be it particularly noticed, that in his legis- 
lative code, the sacred rights of conscience were 






in high i the 

. 

Vhitfi; 

, 1714, at Gloc* 
lie chool educa* 

became Si id. 

Having ;lc! 

in lefat fc> the duties of t 

.!, he pr to 

ich 
he was fit: 

nil! two larg- 

and foil nacle* 

. and tl Court 

he 
I times \ 
where he closed his eyes in tl; Oj not 

B, in N 
tint of w : ought 

i in Bevei 
, are made up ol 

ess, but the 

pulpit, that this wond- he 

lm- 



17 

JOHN WESLEY (founder of the Arminian 
Methodists) was born at Epworth, 1703, educated 
at the charter-house, and in 1716 elected to 
Christ Church, Oxford. He however, in 1726, 
was chosen fellow of Lincoln College where the 
first methodist society was instituted. Like his 
associate, Mr. Whitfield, being excluded the 
churches, he preached in the open air, and visited 
America, as well as the West India Islands, 
where also he has many followers, He built a 
handsome Chapel in the City Road, opposite to 
Bunhill Fields ; and in the ground adjoining to 
the Chapel he lies interred under a neat tomb, 
with an inscription of some length, to his memory. 
He died at a very advanced age, in 1791, after a 
short illness deeply regretted by his extensive 
connections. His works are said to amount to 
thirty -two Octavo volumes, but it may be just 
mentioned that some of these are compilations , 
which he thought were favourable to the diffusion 
of knowledge among mankind. 

Elhanan Winchester (a popular preacher 
of the doctrine of the universal restoration) was 
born at Brooklyn, Massachusetts, North America, 
1751, but did not enjoy the advantages of an 
academical education. He was first of all a min- 
ister among the Calvinistic Baptists, by whom 
he was caressed, till he embraced the universal 
B2 



M 

doct and 

i Hi came 

» 7^7, where he 
| i on tfi 

1 r fvjfilU \ards 

| ! ii I dj and his Dialogues on 

principal publications. In the 

and, where lie had 

i ity and left behind him a nu- 

iion meeting in Parliament-court 

.till in a flourishing 

it Hartford, in New England 

1797, \\ table tokens of respect were paid 

to his memo 



PREFATORY DEDICATION* 

TO THE FIFTH EDITION. 

TO 

JOHN BRENT, Esq. Blackheath. 

DEAR SIR, 
AS a memorial of your friendship and patron- 
age, I take the liberty of dedicating to you, this 
Sketch of the Denominations of the Christian 
World. When its first outlines were laid before 
you, you were pleased not only to sanction them 
with your approbation, but also to suggest many 
improvements. To other respectable friends, both 
among the clergy and laity, I profess myself 



* The author and proprietor of the Sketch, return thanks to 
the Rev. Erasmus Middleton, for the readiness with which he 
consented to their taking likenesses 'for the Frontispiece, from 
his Biographica Eva??gelica y a work of information, and weU 
known to the public. 



20 

under similar obligations; and am here proud of 

thus pul 

knowledgments. 

With respect to th< edition, now call- 

ed for by an indulgent public, it lias (in coi. 
ance with the request of most of my readers) 
received able additions and improvements, 

Articls of some length are newly inserted, such 
as the Theophilantropists, Lutherans, I 

; ;odist-Connection, Jum, . ; a few of 

the old ones have been re-writt( b as the 

Baptists, Methodists, L lists, &c. : and 

to the other d n$, particularly the 

Quakers and irians, there have been ac- 

cessions of matter, either explanatory of I 
U nets, or illustrative of their history. Notwith- 
standing my special aim at accurac in so 
miscellaneous a publication, it is almost impossi- 
ble not to have fallen into m how- 
ever, sincerely hoped that th< of a 
trivial nature ; for I have no interest to promote 
but that of truth, and truth does not require that 
the sentiments of any one man, or of any one 
body of men, should be misrepresented. 



21 

It may, nevertheless, be proper, Sir, through 
the medium of this address, again to remind 
the reader, that this Account of the Christian 
World (though now so much enlarged) Is still 
professedly a Sketch ; and that therefore an elab- 
orate delineation must not be expected. It is 
intended, by its brevity, for the rising genera- 
tion ; more especially for the youth under my 
tuition, and for the young people who attend my 
public ministry. Accordingly, in drawing up the 
work, I never imagined myself bound, like the 
ecclesiastical historian, to record every fact con- 
nected with the rise and progress of sects, or to 
pourtray minutely the shades of difference by 
which they are distinguished. I rather consider- 
ed myself as occupying the province of the natu- 
ral historian, who when classing together the dif- 
ferent kinds of the human race, attempts not to 
delineate every variation of feature, but holds up 
those more prominent traits of physiognomy, 
which are impressed on mankind throughout the 
several regions of the globe ! 

The purport of this little volume, Sir, is to in- 
spire religious denominations with more respectful 



22 

sentiments of each other, and to lead them to 
Btudf the benevolent h the Gospel 

of Jesus Chr g a firm 

vcr in the truth, and f the 

lence of the Ch religion, I would fain 

remove any one obstacle which imj pro- 

gress, or diminishes its effica al- 

ready known. Should, therefore, this ma 
bring only txvo Christians of different denomi- 
nations to a more just knowledge of i 
other's teiu I prove the means ol 

dining them the mo; • to- 

wards one another, that charity which thin 
no evil, it will afford me more I ction 

than the publication of a work of the i 
pompous nature. It is oL-sorvid by the late cele- 
brated Edmund Burke, who possessed no in 
siderable knowledge of human nature, that u In 
all persuasions, the bigots are persecutors ; the 
men of a cool and reasonable piety, are favourers 
of toleration ; because I not taking the 

to be acquainted with the grounds of 
adversar m to be so ab- 

surd and ok use can 



23 

give into them in good earnest. For which 
reason, they are convinced that some oblique 
bad motive induces them to pretend to the belief 
of such doctrines, and to the maintaining them 
with obstinacy. This is a very general prin- 
ciple in all religious differences, and it is the 
corner-stone of all PERSECUTION. The Em- 
peror Charles the 5th, also, we are told, retired 
at the close of life to a monastery, and there, 
says Dr. Robertson, w he was particularly cu- 
rious with regard to the construction of clocks 
and watches, and having found, after repeated 
trials, that he could not bring any two of them 
to go exactly alike y he reflected, it is said, with 
a mixture of surprise as well as regret, on his 
own folly y in having bestowed so much time and 
labour, in the more vain attempt of bringing 
mankind to a precise uniformity of sentiment 
concerning the intricate and mysterious doctrines 
of religion !" 

The infamous falsehoods, Sir, which have been 
propagated by sects concerning one another's 
tenets, in almost every age of the church, are 
incompatible with Glory to God in the highest — 



24 

peae >d will towards men. No 

thing be progress of true 

irit of bigotry, 
and its foily are written in 
rs of blood. Wollaston, the i au- 

thor of the Religion of Nature Delineated, 
once bigot " how many sects he thought 

there might be in the world ?" " Why" says 
he, " I can make no judgment — I never con- 

d the question. - " " Do you think," 
Wollasto% €€ there may be a hundred ?" " O, 
1 cried jot, " Why then," 

d the philosopher, " it is ninety-nine to 
you are in the wrong /" This anc< 
is introduced for the purpose of generating 
mod* one of the I 

ornaments William Penn 

Letter to Archbishop Tillotson, these 
;orable \ - a I abhor two principli 

religion, it own I The 

authority, without con- 
>n ; and tl: , destroying them 

in me, for God* 
it judgment though not without truth — 






25 

union is best if right — else charity.' 9 And as 
Hooker said — " The time will come, when a 
few words spoken with meekness and humility, 
and love, shall be more acceptable than volumes 
of controversy, which commonly destroy CHA- 
RITY, the very best part of TRUE RELIGION," 
Of the terms Prejudice, Bigotry, Candour, and 
Liberality, Dr. Aikin, in his Letters to his Son, 
gives this happy exemplification. " When Jesus 
preached, Prejudice cried, Can any good thing 
come out of Nazareth ? — Crucify, crucify 

him ! exclaimed Bigotry Why, what evil 

hath he done ? remonstrated Canbour. And 
LIBERALITY drew from his words this infer- 
ence — In every nation, he that feareth God, 
and worketh righteousness, is accepted ivith 
him*" 

Upon my first sitting down, Sir, to this work, 
a closer inspection of the discordant materials^ 
of which the Christian world stands composed, 
almost deterred me from proceeding to its exe- 
cution. I, however, relied on the candour of 
the public, and was not disappointed, The most 
c 



26 

< ctable literary journals of the day, v 
j d to sanction my attempt with I pro- 

bation. >ed to say, that th y 

figure id the block of , and 

striking off with his chi superfluous 

■in presented itself g> In 

imitation of the sculptor 
to divest tl A denominations of the 

us matter which had I « m, 

through ignorance or malignity ; thus 
holding them up to of m\ i 

gular proportio: rcfore, 

d an bumble, though laborious province ; 
but the concurrence ex] -id 

go imong the most opposite 

1 an abundant reward. To u^e the 

words of Gilbert W bet 

of the h of England — Blessed arc the 

peace-makers, for they shall be called the 

An n infiii 

arable than that of pastor, 

, patriar tl, or pope ; and 



27 

the richest revenues of the highest ecclesiastical 
dignity." Cyprian, likewise a pious father of the 
church, ranks a contentions Christian among 
the twelve absurdities, to which the life of man 
is exposed. 

Indeed, Sir, the flattering reception of this 
little work, by DENOMINATIONS of every de- 
scription, cannot fail of affording me satisfac- 
tion. This circumstance, in conjunction with 
the extent of its circulation, (many thousand 
copies having been sold) has raised pleasing sen- 
sations in my breast. For it inclines me to hope, 
that the execrable spirit of bigotry is abating 
among all parties, and that the professors of 
Jesus are becoming more intent on the great 
essentials of Christianity. The probationary con- 
dition in which we are placed, powerfully incul- 
cates such a conduct. It was a saying of the 
pious Richard Baxter, recorded by himself, in the 
History of his own Times — " While we wan- 
gle here in the dark y we are dying and passing 
to that world which will decide all our contro- 
versies, and the safest passage thither is by 
peaceable holiness." 



i 



28 

StfTI 

Tiu' ot war w.t 

o\v, 

C0WiTU.-» 

Since the first appearance of the Sketch, 

Sir has been found, to lay before the pub- 
foe Se&tjeLj being the second and concluding 
part cf this work. There it is lai ewn, 

both in a preliminary , and iii the numerous 

Extracts, that MODERATION is the genuine off- 
spring of Chi . To avoid the imputation 
of partiality, the authorities amounting in num- 
ber to near one d> are taken from divines 

of the Church of England of thy Kirk of 

Scotland, and from among the Protestant D'. - 
senters. The drawing up of this hitter work, 

this opportunity of recomme: 

by'G. J. Z Trench edition, 

by th. . 4 fg, of Exeter. The work, to \ 

or lias done jut be pronounced a val 

ition. The uf tint foreign 

t iii cur hugruge, a ait in 

kind. Tk'.-y are at once rational an J ur. 



2.0 

(a second edition of which is just published) was 
with me a favourite object, and no small pains 
were bestowed upon it. The Sketch and Sequel 
complete my design on the subject. May the 
effort be attended with a divine blessing ! 

I am, however, aware Sir, that for the same 
reason that the passionate charge the mild and 
unassuming with a want of spirit, zealots are 
reproaching the advocates of moderation with a 
propensity to indifference. But this is an ini- 
quitous charge, since it is known, that liberal 
characters have been distinguished for their zeal, 
in support of what appeared to them to be the 
interests of truth. That the candid have fallen 
into lukewarmness, and that the zealous have 
been betrayed into persecution cannot be de- 
nied i but surely no man in his senses, will, on 
that account, seriously maintain that candour, and 
indifference, zeal and persecution, are insepa- 
rably connected. Against a spirit of indifference, 
I here solemnly protest, nor indeed will any 
person accuse me of such an intention, who 
has attentively read 'my Address to the General 
Baptists on the Revival of Religion amongst 
C2 



30 

them. \ iour, Chris- 

t anotht i the 

udly 
1 upon but net 

h once delivered to the 

Dr. Prideaux .ied clergyman of 

church of England) 

.ing of t. tiuryj 

— " Christians having drawn the a6- 
into contrc 

} and charity among them- 
that they lost the ivhole substance of re- 
ligion, and in a manntr d lianity 5 
world; so that the Saracens, tal 
advantage of the weakness of power and distrac- 
pounciUj which those division* had 
caused, soon over-run with astation, 
U m provinces of the Rom >ire ; 

jues, 
and forced on them the abr imposture of 

Mahometanism." E 'amcntable fact, 

christians cught to team an instruct 

t, when 



31 

and Deists are both in this country and upon the 
Continent, assailing on every side the venerable 
fabric of our religion, its professors ceasing to 
lay an undue stress on their private differences 
of opinion, should concentrate their scattered 
forces, and inspired with kindness towards each 
other, oppose with one heart and with one soul, 
the COMMON ENEMY ! 

The biographer of Bishop Burnet tells us, that 
when making his Tour on the Continent, this 
great and good prelate " there became acquaint- 
ed with the leading men of the different persua- 
sions tolerated in that country, particularly Calvi* 
nists, Arminians, Lutherans, Baptists, Brownists, 
Papists, and Unitarians, amongst each of which} 
he used frequently to declare, he met with men of 
such unfeigned piety and virtue, that he became 
fixed in a strong principle of universal charity." 
Would to God ! that an example in every respect 
so illustrious, were devoutly imitated by the pro- 
fessors of Christianity. The good effects of 
such a conduct would be instantaneously dis- 
cerned. The sincere and hearty co-operation of 
Christians ^of every denomination, in the great 



i 



'y, woul lially pro- 

mot- >f mankind. 

; me me for thus 
uring pul to express the g tion I 

in the publication of both Sketch and 
it Philadi I ca« This exten- 

sion of their Bphere of usefulness will, I trust, 
prove the humble means of aiding in some small 
degree the cause of Christian liberality amongst 
our transatlantic brethren. The period is ap- 
proaching, when the jealousies an 1 lions 
rty, in ev< ry quarter of the globe, shall be 
in the diffusion of pure and unadulterated 
-tianity ! In the present awful F infi- 
delity and lukewarmnesS; Christians are apt to 
be borne down b; pondency. But 
the energies of their faith ought by no means to 

!. Over the attacks of its i 
and over the infirmities of its fric , 
of Jesus shall obtain a compute triumph. The 
day of small things must not be drspisrcL Dis- 
pensations the most dark, and 
unpromising, are rendered subservient to the pur- 
poses cf the nent, 



33 

revealed truth which have hitherto only beamed 
upon us through the clouds of our ignorance and 
prejudices, are nevertheless destined to light up 
the radiance of a more perfect day. Then, to 
adopt the energetic language of ancient prophecy 
• — The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the 
leopard lie down with the kid and the calf, and 
the young lion and the fattling together, and 
a little child shall lead them. The lion shall 
eat straxv like the ox, and the suckling child 
shall play on the hole of the asp, and the 
weaned child shall put his hand on the cock- 
atrice den. They shall not hurt nor de- 
stroy (saitli the Lord) IN ALL MY HOLY 

MOUNTAIN. 

In the mean time, may the God of PEACE 
allay the animosities and meliorate the temper of 
the Christian world ! Thus will the wretched 
remains of bigotry, which are still to be found in 
some unhappy individuals of every party, be gra- 
dually lessened, and finally destroyed. The glo- 
rious gospel of the blessed God wants not any 
adventitious aid to extend its empire over the 
human heart. It is of itself sufficient, (under 



34 

I 

and to pi re- 

al into i 

1 your worthy f 
• d for I I pu- 

| 
; that all mj - y (to 

the wo: nd, the I 

ft \v. rthingtoiij on a public occasion) ma; 

y yet firm — enq . yet believers — 

piou . r of 

. with gr< 

JOHN 

in'i Row, Islington. 
1 Oock. 



CONTENTS. 



Introductory description of 

2ACE* 

Atheists 38 

Deists .41 

Theophilantliropists 52 

Jews 57 

Chinese . .6$ 

Cliristians 65 

Mahometans 7$ 

CHRISTIAN SECES, 

According to the Person of Christ ; 

jarians . . 82 

Athanasians 83 

SabelHans 89 

Aiians *. 91 

Necessarians * ..... 96 

Materialists 97 

Sccinians 08 

According to the means and measure of God^s favour j 

Calvinists 104 

Subiapsarians and Supralapsarians . . . . . . . 108 

Arminians . «. . . . no 

Baxterians 114 

Antinomians 116 

According to the mode of Church Government j 

Papists i 120 

Greek, or Russian Church . . 126 

Protestants 133 

Lutherans 146 

fclugonots 149 



3* CONTKV 

DUaem 

Kirlc ( 1G9 

• v 170 



■^ — » - 

I/O 

'• ... 

i and Particular .... 

! 

rs 

203 

2'. 1 

Junipers 214 

219 



i ts 231 

Sabbatarians 233 

Moravins .... ■ . 23u 

maniaas 

Hutci. * 242 

.era . 243 

244 

......... 245 

. . 246 

Swedenborgians 217 

I 

• • 2t*l 

:tulatory 'i . .... 



A 

SKETCH, 



^The great lesson which every sect, and every individual of every 
sect, ought to learn from the history of the Church, is Mod- 
eration. Want of genuine Moderation towards tfcose who 
differ from us in religious opinions seems to be the most 
unaccountable thing in the world. 

Watson, Bishop of Landaff. 



jL HE Christian world is divided into denomina- 
tions, each of which is discriminated by senti- 
ments peculiar to itself. To delineate the na- 
ture, point out the foundation^ and appreciate the 
tendency of every individual opinion, would be 
an endless task. My only design is briefly to 
enumerate the leading tenets of the several parties 
which attract our notice, and to make this variety 
of religious opinions a ground for the exercise of 
moderation, together with the improvement of 
other Christian graces. The moderation here re- 
commended lies at an equal distance between an 
indifference to truth and the merciless spirit of 
uncharitableness. It is a virtue much talked of 9 
little understood, and less practised. 
D 



B8 Ann ; 



But m d< !i. i 

rial parties, the At! - 

mi ntioned, two descriptions of persons frequ< 
confounded together, and also a 1 outline 

:i of Theophilanthropism and Mabomi 
. of Judaism and Christianit I jpics 

will form a proper introduction to an account of 
the Sects and Denominations of the RELIGIOUS 
World. 



AT HEISTS. 

THE Atheist docs not believe in the existence 
of a God. He attributes surrounding nature and 
all its astonishing phenomena to chance, or a 
fortuitous concourse of atoms. Plato disting 
es three sorts of Atheists; such as deny abso- 
lutely that there are any Gods, others who al- 
low the existence of the Godftj but deny that 
they concern themteWefl with human affairs, and 
so dislx lit \ e a Providence ; and lastly, such as 
if litre in the Gods and a Providence, but think 
that they ;\n easily appeased, and remit the 
for the smallest supplication. — 
T\\> first of these, however, are the only Atlu- 
rict and pro; e of the \\ 

Dame of Atheist is composed of two G 
v, a and free, signifying without God } and 



ATHEISTS. 39 



in this sense the appellation occurs in the New 
Testament, Ephes. ii. 12. Without God in the 
zvorld. It is to be hoped that direct Atheists 
are few. Some persons indeed, question the re- 
ality of such a character, and others insist, that 
pretensions to Atheism have their origin in pride^ 
or are adopted as a cloak for licentiousness. In 
the seventeenth century, Spinosa, a foreigner, was 
its noted defender ; and Luciiio Vanini, an Ital- 
ian, of eccentric character, was burnt, 1619, at 
Toulouse, for his Atheistical tenets, Being press- 
ed to make public acknowledgment of his crime, 
and to ask pardon of God, the king, and justice, 
he boldly replied, that he did not believe there 
was a God ; that he never offended the king : 
and as for justice, he wished it to the devil. He 
confessed that he was one of the twelve who 
parted in company from Naples, to spread their 
doctrines in all parts of Europe. The poor man, 
however, ought not to have been put to death ; 
confinement is the best remedy for insanity. 
Lord Bacon, in his Essays justly remarks, that 
" A little philosophy inclineth a man's mind 
to Atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth 
men's minds about to religion ; for while the 
mind of man looketh upon second causes scatter- 
ed, it may rest in them and go no farther : but 
when it beholdeth the chain of them confederated 



40 AT 



inked to Ay to Provi- 

Ai\ ^m, 

1 

I 
All tlir ,i that I 

it iu the history of th 

, in 
and cardinal , ting two or three small phi- 

I court. So 
that humour amongsl i 

\n of the gross t >n and 

the Romish church and court. 
more natural than 
l , like 

the vibrations of a pendulum, which the more 

bag in one way, the fhrttu 
will return the other. But in tl 
Ath< 

now of late it hath en 
and lion, and hath d te 

Th( reached at Boyle's lecture — the 

thy on the Divine Attribi 
and the I ! of Dr. iiihle 

antidote against Atheistical 
writer thus forcibly expresses himself on the 

subject; — 



ATHEISTS. 41 



i€ Of all the false doctrines and foolish opin- 
ions which ever jnfested the mind of man, no* 
thing can possibly equal that of Atheism, which 
is such a monstrous contradiction to all evidence, 
to all the powers of understanding, and the 
dictates of common sense, that it may be well 
questioned whether any man can really fall in- 
to it by a deliberate use of his judgment. All 
nature so clearly points out, and so loudly pro- 
claims a Creator of infinite power, wisdom, and 
goodness, that whoever hears not its voice and 
sees not its proofs, may well be thought wilfully 
deaf and obstinately blind. If it be evident, self- 
evident, to every man of thought, that there 
can be no effect without a cause, what shall we 
say of that manifold combination of effects, that 
series of operations, that system of wonders, 
which fill the universe ; which present themselves 
to all our preceptions, and strike our minds and 
our senses on every side ! Every faculty, every 
object of every faculty, demonstrates a Deity. 
The meanest insect we can see, the minutest and 
most contemptible weed we can tread upon, is 
really sufficient to confound Atheism, and baffle 
all its pretensions. How much more that aston- 
ishing variety and multiplicity of God's works with 
which we are continually surrounded ! Let any 
wan survey the face of the earth, or lift up his 
D2 



42 ATI i 



n consider the na- 
f brute ai irdl 

look lfito th< 1 mind ! 

than the result 

of unaccountable accident and blind chanci 
Can 1 that Buch wonderful 

Ort ng out of confusion ; or that 

such ptrf< ould be ever formed by ( 

tous operations of unconscious, unacti 
\ irticles of matter? As well, r r, and 

ni' ly, might he suppose, that an earthquake 

»: j, I I tppen to build towns and cities; or the 
materials carried down by a flood fit themseh 
up without hands into a regular fleet. For what 
sire towns, cities, or fleets, in comparison of the 
vast and amazing fabric of the universe! In 
short, Atheism o nee to all our 

faculties, that it seems scs dible it should 

ev( any looting in human \x\v\ 

?•" 
The arguments for ig of a God are dis- 

tributed by the learned into two kinds: 1st, Ar- 

gumen fort, or those taken from the ncces- 

'y of the dr je; 2d. Arguments h 

posteriori, or those taken from the works <■/ na- 
ture. Of the latter of proof tl 
quotation from Dr. Balguy is a fine illustration. 



ATHEISTS. 43 



On the former see the great Dr. Clark's Essay 
on the Being of a God, which has been deemed, 
a master-piece on the subject. The reader is also 
referred to Dr. Paley's incomparable work on 
Natural Theology, which, though it bears a 
strong resemblance to Derhams' Physico-theolo- 
gy, is by far more compact and impressive. 

Newton, Boyle, Maclaurin, Ray, Derham, 
Locke, and other philosophers, distinguished for 
the profundity of their researches, and the extent 
of their erudition, are to be enrolled amongst the 
principal advocates for the existence and superin- 
tendence of a Deity.* 



* On this subject the celebrated Lord Chesterfield made the 
following declaration ; and no man can suppose his understand- 
ing to have been clouded with religious prejudices. " I have 
read some of Seed's sermons, and like them very well. But I 
have neither read nor intend to read those wliich are meant to 
prove the existence of God ; because it seems to me too great 
a disparagement of that reason which he has given us to re- 
quire any other proofs of his existence than those which the 
whole and every part of the creation afford us. If I believe 
my own existence, I must believe his : it cannot be proved a 
priori^ as some have idly attempted to do, and cannot be doubt- 
ed of a posteriori. Cato says very justly— «" And that he is, all 
nature cries aloud." Elegant Epistles, 



44 DEI 



DEISTS. 
THE Dr;<;ts lirlirve in a God, but reject i 
written revelation from him. They are 
gant in th< ir encomiums on i ^ion, 

though they differ much respecting its nature, 
extent, obligation, and importance. Dr. Clarke, 
in his famous treatise against D imij divide* them 
into four classes, according to the lean or greater 
number of articles comprised in their c 
t( Thv first are such as pretend to believe the 
of an eternal, infinite, independent, in- 
telligent Being, and who, to avoid the name of 
Epicurean Atheists, teach also that this supreme 
Being made the world, though at the same time 
they agree with the Epicureans in this, that they 
fancy God does not at all concern himself in the 
government of the world ; nor has any regard to, 
or care of, what u done therein, agreeably to the 
reasoning of Lucretius, the Epicurean poet — 

For whatsoe'er divine must live at peace, 

Jn undisturbed and evci e ; 

Nor care for us, from fears and dangers free, 

Sufficient to his own felicity. 

Nought here below, nought in our pow'r it needs, 

NeVr smiles at good, nor frowns at wicked deeds. 

The second sort of Deists are those who be- 
lieve not only the Being but also the providence 



DEISTS. 4$ 



of God with respect to the natural world, but 
who not allowing any difference between moral 
good and evil, deny that God takes any notice 
of the morally good or evil actions of men, these 
things depending, as they imagine, on the arbi- 
trary constitution of human laws. 

A third sort of Deists there are, who having 
right apprehensions concerning the natural attri- 
butes of God and his all-governing Providence, 
and some notion of his moral perfections also, yet 
being prejudiced against the notion of the immor- 
tality of the soul, believe that men perish entirely 
at death, and that one generation shall perpetu- 
ally succeed another, without any further restora- 
tion or renovation of things. 

A fourth and the last sort of Deists are such as 
believe the existence of a Supreme Being, to- 
gether with his Providence in the government of 
the world, also all the obligations of natural reli- 
gion, but so far only as these things are discover- 
able by the light of nature alone, without be- 
lieving any divine revelation." These, the learn- 
ed author observes, are the only true Deists ; but 
as their principles w r ould naturally lead them to 
embrace the Christian revelation, he concludes 
there is now no consistent scheme of Deism in 
the world. Dr. Clarke then adds these pertinent 



40 DEI 



obsc; iitv. " The 

itben philosophers, those few of them who 

jht and lived up to the obligations of natural 
jion, had indeed a consistent . 

as far as it went Rut t he case is not so now ; 
Line scheme is not any longer consistent with 
its own principles, it does not now lead men to 
believe and emb: iation, as it then taught 

them to hope for it. Deists in our days, who re- 
ject revelation when offered to them, are not such 
men as Socrates and Cicero were, but under pre- 
tence of Deism, it is plain they are generally ri- 
diculers of all that is truly excellent in natural 
religion itself. Their trivial and vain ca 
mocking and ridiculing without and before exa- 
mination, their directing the whole stress of ob- 
jections against particular customs, or particular 
and perhaps uncertain opinions or explications of 
opinions, without at all considering the main 
body of religion, their loose, vain, and frothy 
discourses, and, above all, their vicious and im- 
moral lives shew plainly and undeniably that they 
are not real Deists but mere Atheists, and con- 
sequently not capable to judge of the truth of 
Christanity." The present Deists are of two 
sorts only, those who believe, and those who 
disbelieve m a future state. If a Thcist be dif- 



DEISTS. 47 



ferent from a Deist, it is that he has not had re- 
velation proposed to him, and follows therefore 
the pure light of nature.* 

The term Deist comes from the Latin word 
DeuSy a God ; and is applied to the rejectors of 
revelation, because the existence of a God is the 
principal article of their belief. The name was 
first assumed by a number of gentlemen in France 
and Italy, who were willing to cover their oppo- 
sition to the Christian revelation by a more hon- 
orable name than that of Atheists. Viret, a 
divine of eminence among the first reformers, ap- 
pears to have been the first author who expressly 
mentions them ; for in the Epistle Dedicatory 
prefixed to the second volume of his Instruction 
Chretienne, published in 1563, he speaks of 



* Paganism is the corruption of natural religion, and is little 
else than the worship of idols and false gods. These were either 
men, as Jupiter, Hercules, Bacchus, &c. or fictitious persons, as 
Victory, Fame, Fever, &c. or beasts as in Egypt, crocodiles, 
cats, &c. or finally inanimate things, as onions, fire, water, &c. 
Upon the propagation of Christianity, Paganism gradually de- 
clined. Julian, the apostate, made an ineffectual attempt to 
revive it, and it is now degenerated into gross and disgustful 
idolatary. Such especially was it found to be in the South Sea 
Islands, lately discovered by that unfortunate navigator Capf. 
Cook. Curious specimens of the Pagan idols may be seen both 
in the Lcverian and British Museums. When I saw them there 
— the worshipers of such hideous deformity, excited my com- 
miseration. 



48 



by 

bj (from the Latin word z/i/j- 
Kt) on Btecoum of tl. I I lief 

Some vc 

i wired the applk Hty to 

unfa , ntending that it 

jg the 
Dt of conjugal fidelity. 
Lord Herbert, of Ch I 

who excited public notice in this country. Dr. 
Brown's recent edition ofLelandV View of I 
D , together with many other valu- 

able tr< d information concerning th« 

principles, and contain a comi futation of 

th ions against revealed religion. Mr. 

m has thus well assigned the principal 
caU8< b of modern infidelity in his reply to Mr. 
t€ 1, The first and chief is an un- 
wi lit to th< of religion, 

and the dread of a future lift-, winch I 
to tence, vind to i ^ns. 

2. Th( dities of en illy 

pr« tians, which men of sense hav- 

^' , genuine doctrines of i 

■ ;i, they have d the whole at on 

>U1 enquiry, 3. Impatience and un- 
ingness to persevere in the laborious ta>k of 



DEISTS. 49 



weighing arguments and examining objections, 
4* Fashion has biassed the minds of some young 
persons of virtuous characters and competent 
knowledge to resist revelation, in order to avoid 
the imputation of singularity, and to escape the 
ridicule of those with whom they desire to asso- 
ciate. 5- Pride that they might at an easy rate 
attain the character of philosophers and superio- 
rity to vulgar prejudice. 6. Dwelling upon dif- 
ficulties only from which the most rational sys- 
tem is not exempt, and by which the most candid, 
inquisitive, and virtuous minds are sometimes en- 
tangled. The mass of mankind, who never think 
at all, but who admit, without hesitation, " all 
that the nurse and that the priest have taught," 
can never become sceptics. Of course the whole 
class of unbelievers consists of persons who have 
thought mora or less upon the subject, and as per- 
sons of sense seldom discard at once all the prin- 
ciples in which they have been educated, it is not 
wonderful that many who begin with the highest 
orthodoxy pass through different stages of their 
creed, dropping an article or two every £tep of 
their progress, till at last weary of their labour, 
and not knowing^ where to fix, they reject it al- 
together. This to a superficial and timid ob- 
server, appears to be an objection to freedom of 
enquiry, for no person beginning to enquire, can 
E 



50 DK1 

or ought to say where bl »p. But thl 

frimd to truth will not be discouraged. For 
without enquiry truth cannot be ascertained, and 
if the Christian religion shrinks from lam- 

ination in this bold and inquisitive age, it must 
and it ought to fall. But of this i roe 1 h-ive not 
the smallest appi i. Genuine Christianity 

can \v( il bear the fiery trial through which it is 
now pairing, and while the dross and the rubbish 
are consumed, the pure gold will remain unin- 
jured, and will come forth from the furnace with 
increased lustre." 

Indeed the objections which some Deists have 
made to revelation, affect not so much the reli- 
gion of Jesus Chirst, laid down in the New Tes- 
tament, as certain absurd doctrines and ridiculous 
practices which have been added to it by the 

md wickedness of mankind, 
ted accusations therefore of unfairness have been 

rality of deistical writ 
and with this palpable injustice Bolingbroke, Vol- 
taire, and Thomas Pi nd particularly charg- 
ed. Paine's Age of Reason has been ably answer- 
ed by by the pn 
Bishop of LandafT, in his masterly perform.: 

• Bible. 

The reject- . i.LATION (! 

thoughtlessly calumniate it) would do well to 



DEISTS. 51 



consider what they are able to give us in its stead, 
better calculated to alleviate the distresses, and 
bind up the bleeding heart of humanity. 

The late Dr. Beattie, in the eloquent conclu- 
sion of his Essay on the Immutability of Truth, 
speaking of Sceptics and Deists, very justly re- 
marks ; — " Caressed by those who call themselves 
the great, engrossed by the formalities and foppe- 
ries of life, intoxicated with vanity, pampered 
with adulation, dissipated in the tumult of busi- 
ness, or amidst the vicissitudes of folly, they per- 
haps have little need and little relish for the con- 
solations of religion. But let them know; that 
in the solitary scenes of life there is many an honest 
and tender heart pining with incurable anguish, 
pierced with the sharpest sting of disappointment, 
bereft of friends, chilled with poverty, racked 
with disease, scourged by the oppressor, whom 
nothing but trust in Providence, and the hope of 
a future retribution, could preserve from the ago- 
nies of despair. And do they with sacrilegious 
hands attempt to violate this last refuge of the 
miserable, and to rob them of the only comfort 
that had survived the ravages of misfortune, ma- 
lice, and tyranny ! Did it ever happen that the 
influence of their tenets disturbed the tranquility 
of virtuous retirement, deepened the gloom of hu- 
man distress, or aggravated the horrors of the 
grave ? Ye traitors to human kind, ye murder- 






52 HILANTHROl I 

• r it 
>nr own 

I i 

4 re- 
na- 

London f i 
i i 78 I. Indeed all the 

,cy. 



THEOPH1LASTHROP1STS. 

Thcophilanthropists are a kind of D 
in France during the revolution. Mr. The 

figured amongst them for some time, and 
d a discourse before them on the 
, &c. of this system, which was after* 
-tablished. Since the return of Popery 
under Bonaparte, they are said to be nearly anni- 
hilate u. At least they i>\ no means attract so 
much of the public attention. The name by 
which they stand distinguished, is a compound 
term, derived from the Greek, and intimates that 

profess to adore God and love their 
crraturcs. Their common principle is a I 
in the existence, perfections, and providence of 
God, and in the doctrine of a future life, and 



THEOPHILANTHROPISTS. 



their rule of morals is love to God and good 
will to men. Dr. John Walker, a medical gen- 
tleman, author of the Universal Gazetteer, pub- 
lished the manual of the sect, from which a few 
particulars shall be extracted. 

" The temple, the most worthy of the divinity, 
in the eyes of the T keophilanthropists, is the 
universe. Abandoned sometimes under the vault 
of heaven, to the contemplation of the beauties 
of nature, they render its author the homage of 
adorotion and gratitude. They nevertheless 
have temples erected by the hands of men, in 
which it is more commodious for them to as- 
semble to listen to lessons concerning his wisdom. 
Certain moral inscriptions, a simple altar on 
which they deposit, as a sign of gratitude for the 
benefits of the Creator, such flowers or fruits as 
the seasons afford, and a tribute of the lectures 
and discourses, form the whole of the ornaments 
of their temples. 

The first inscription placed above the altar, 
recalls to remembrance the two religious dogmas, 
which are the foundation of their moral. 
First Inscription* 

We believe in the existence of a God, in the 
immortality of the soul. 

Second Inscription* 

Worship God, cherish your kind, render your- 
selves useful to your country, 
£2 



i 



THFOPHTLANTHr 



Third I 

; tends to the pn 

;y thing which tend troy or 

riorate him. 

Fourth Inscription. 

Children honour your fathers and mother?. 
Obey them with affection. Comfort their old 

fieri and mothers instruct your children. 

Fifth Inscription. 

Wives regard in your husbands the chiefs of 
your houses. 

Husbands love your wives* and render your- 
selves reciprocally happy. 

The assembly sits to hear lessons or discourses 
on morality, principles of religion, of be 
olence, and of universal salvation, principles 
equally remote from the reverity of stoi 
and Epicurean indolence. These lectures and 
discourses are diversified by hymns. Then 
assemblies are holden on the first day of the 
week, and on the decades." Mr. Bekham, in hi> 
answer to Mr. Wilberforce, speaking of this new 
French sect of Dfeistii, remark'—" [t 



THEOPHILANTHROPISTS. 55 



principles comprehend the essence of the Chris- 
tian religion, but not admitting the resurrection 
of Christ, the Theophilantropists deprive them- 
selves cf the only solid ground on which to build 
the hope of a future existence." 

The concluding part of the manual of the 
Theophilantropists being still further explana- 
tory of their tenets and conduct, shall be here in- 
troduced — " If any one ask you what is the 
origin of your religion and of your worship, you 
can answer him thus : — Open the most ancient 
books which are known, seek there what was 
the religion, what the worship of the first human 
beings of which history has preserved the re- 
membrance. There you will see that their re- 
ligion was what we now call natural religion? 
because it has for its principle even the Author of 
nature. It is he that has engraven it in the 
heart of the first human beings, in ours, in that 
of all the inhabitants of the earth ; this religion 
which consists in worshipping God and cherish- 
ing our kind, is what we express by one single 
word, that of Theophilanthropy. Thus our re- 
ligion is that of our first parents ; it is yours ; it 
is ours ; it is the universal religion. As to our 
worship, it is also that of our first fathers. See 
even in the most ancient writings, that the exterior 
signs by which they rendered their homage to 



56 IIIEOPHILANTHROP! 



the Creator, were of great simplicity. They 
ted for him an altar of earth, they offered 
him, in sign of their gratitude and of tluir sub- 
ion, some of the productions which |] 
ifl liberal hand. The Others exhorted their 
children to virtue ; they all encouraged one an- 
other under the auspices of the Divinity to the 
accomplishment of tluir dutin This simple 

worship, the sages of all nations have not ceased 
to profess, and they have transmitted it down t ] 
118 without interruption. 

If they yet ask you of whom you hold your 
on, answer we hold it of God himself, who 
in giving us two arms, to aid our kind, has 
given us intelligence to mutually enlighten 
and the love of good to bring us together to 
tue ; of God who has given experience and 
dom to the aged to guide the young, and autho- 
rity to fathers to conduct their children. 

If they arc not struck with the force of tfa 
reasons, do not farther discuss the subject, and do 
not engage yourself in controver ich tend 

to diminish the love of our neighbours. Our 
principles are the eternal truth, they will su! 
whatever individuals may support or attack them, 
and the efforts of the wicked will not even pre- 
vail against them. Re?t firmly attached to them, 
without attaching or defending any religious 



JUDAISM. 57 



tern, and remember that similar discussions have 
never produced good, and that they have often 
tinged the earth with the blood of men. Let us 
lay aside systems, and apply ourselves to doing 
good. It is the only road to happiness." " 

The Christian reader will admire the practical 
tendency of this new species of Deism, but 
lament the defects by which it stands charac- 
terized. It wants the broad basis of revelation, 
which would give permanency to its doctrines, 
and energy to its precepts, besides the glorious 
discoveries of immortality ! It was hoped at one 
time that the profession of this system in France 
would have prepared the way for the reception 
of pure Christianity. 



JUDAISM. 



Judaism is the religious doctrines and rites of 
the Jews, who are the descendants of Abraham, 
a person of eminence, chosen by God, soon after 
the flood, to preserve the doctrine of the Divine 
Unity among the idolatrous nations of the earth. 
A complete system of Judaism is contained in the 
five books of MoSES, their great law-giver, who 
was raised up to deliver them from their bondage 
in Egypt, and to conduct them to the possession 



53 JUDAI 



of C , the promised land. Th< 

(Economy is so much directed to temporal re- 
wards and punishments, thai it bai been ques- 
tioned whether the h i any knowledge of a 
future state. This opinion has be 
with vast erudition by Warburton, in his I) 
Legation of Moses ; but it has been coi; 4 
by Dr. Sykcs, and other authors of resp< 
The principal sects among the Jews, in the time 
of our Saviour, were the Pharisees, who placed 
religion in external ceremony — the S adduce $ y 
wlio were remarkable for their incredulity ; and 
the EsseneSy who were distinguished by an 
austere sanctity. Some accounts of tru 
will be found in the last volume of Pride. 
Connection, in Harwood's Introduction to the 
Study of the New Testament, and in Marsh's 
improved edition of Michaelis, recently publisl 

The Pi and Sadduces are frequently 

mentioned in the New Testament ; and an ac- 
quaintance with their principles and practices 
B to illustrate many passages m the sacred 
y. At present the Jews have two s 
the Caraites, who admit no rule of religion but 
the law of Moses ; and the Rabbinists, who 
add to the laws the traditions of the Talmud. 
The dispersion of the Jews took place upon the 
action of Jerusalem by Titus the Roman 



JUDAISM. 59 



Emperor, A. D. 70. The expectation of a Mes- 
siah is the distinguishing feature of their religious 
system. The word MESSIAH signifies one 
anointed, or installed into an office by unction. 
The Jews used to anoint their kings, high-priests, 
and sometimes prophets, at their entering upon 
office. Thus Saul, David, Solomon, and Joash, 
kings of Judah, received the royal unction. Thus 
also Aaron and his sons received the sacerdotal, 
and Elisha, the disciple of Elijah, the prophetic 
unction. 

Christians believe that JESUS CHRIST is the 
Messiah, in whom all the Jewish prophecies are 
accomplished. The Jews, infatuated with the 
idea of a temporal Messiah, who is to sub- 
due the world, still wait for his appearance. 
According to Buxtorf, (a professor of Hebrew, 
and celebrated for rabbinical learning) some of 
the modern rabbins believe that the Messiah is 
already come, but that he will not manifest him- 
self on account of the sins of the Jews. Others 
however have had recourse to the hypothesis of 
two Messiahs, who are to succeed each other — 
one in a state of humiliation and suffering — the 
oilier Tn a state of glory, magnificence, and 
power. Be it however remembered, that in the 
New Testament Jesus Chirst assures us in the 
most explicit terms that he is the Messiah, la 



00 JU1 



Job 

/ A**u' that M is called 

./ tell us all 
things. Jesus Saii ,1 that speak to 

thrr am He. According to the prediction of 
h Christ, would assume 

of M and accordingly such 

persons have appeared. An history of u False 
Messiahs" has been written by a Dutchman. 
B rcochab was the first, who appeared in the 
time of Adrian ; the second, in 1666, was Sab- 
bethaj Levi, who turned Mahometan ; and the 

■t was Rabbi Mordecai, who was talked of in 
1682. 

The Talmud is a collection of the doctrines 
and morality of the Jews. Tiny have two works 
that bear this name ; the first is called the Tal- 
mud of Jerusalem ; and the other the Talmud of 
Babylon. The former is shorter and more ob- 
scure than that of Babylon, but is of an older 
date. The Talmud compiled at Lubylon the 

ws prefer to that of Jerusalem, as it is clearer 
and more extensive. 

The Jewish oeconomy was certainly typi- 
cal of the Christian dispensation in many im- 
portant respects, but these types and antitypes 
have been wretchedly abused. A curious in- 
stance of this kind occurred about the time of 



JUDAISM. 61 



the reformation. Le Clcrc has recorded it ; and 
the perusal of it must create a smile. The story 
is this : two eminent Protestants, a Lutheran 
and aCalvinist had been wrangling for a conside- 
rable time about the precedency of their patriachs, 
without any seeming advantage ; when the one 
took it into his head to make Luther the antitype 
of Aaron, seeing he was the first who had set 
up and lighted the grand candlestick of the re- 
formation in the tabernacle. The other not 
being able to disprove the fact, had recourse to 
the same typical reasoning, and affirmed that if 
Luther was Aaron's antitype, upon that score 
Calvin was much more so, since it is manifest 
that if he had not taken the snuffers in his hand 
and snuffed the lamps, the candlestick would 
have given so dim a light, fhat few people would 
have been the better for it ! I 

The most remarkable periods in the history of 
the Jews are the call of Abraham, the giving of 
the law by Moses, their establishment in Canaan 
under Joshua, the building of the Temple by 
Solomon, the division of the tribes, their cap- 
tivity in Babylon, their return under Zerubbabel, 
and the destruction of their city and temple 
by the Emperor Titus. Their books of the 
Old Testament are the most ancient and authen- 
tic records extant. For further information res- 
pecting Judaism, many publications may be 



62 jud/ 



th< writing* of Joseph! 

umu' I, of which th< 

translations in our language — Dr. Jennings two 
tmes of Jewish I , Dr. Shaw's Phi- 

losophy of Jl and tl 

Lev ligion. 

1 shall conclude this article of ti. 
remarking that the indefatigable Dr. Pr: 
addn ;tgo with spirit, and 

the abort Mr. L< vi, a I arned J j replied. 

An excellent Address } however, to the J( 

come from the same pen, dated Nor- 
thumberland, America, October l, 1799. If 
conclude* in the following pointed n \ " I 

took the liberty r 
the happiness- to find you v d that I 

wrote from the purest motives, and b e re- 

will to your nation. Having 
then 1 all that I thought rj 

, | shall not 
tot help observing, that thouj of your 

11 know 

led to me, he did not unci fiite m\ 

rical 
He did n out aiu 

true* \ 



JUDAISM. 63 



ever may be objected to Christianity on other 
accounts, the divine mission will be unquestion- 
able. God would never have suffered any per- 
son pretending to have come from him, to impose 
upon your nation and the whole world in so egre- 
gious a manner as Jesus must have done, if he 
had been an smpostor. Would God have raised 
an impostor to life, after a public execution ? And 
yet in my discourse on that subject, I have shewn 
that this one fact has the most convincing evi- 
dence that any fact of the kind could possibly 
have. If you attentively consider the character 
of Jesus, his great simplicity, his piety, his bene- 
volence, and every other virtue, you must be 
satisfied that he was incapable of imposture. 
Compare his character and conduct with that of 
Mahomet, or any other known impostor, and 
this argument of the internal kind must strike 
you in a forcible manner. Besides how was it 
possible for such a religion as the Christian, 
preached by persons in low stations, without the 
advantage of a learned education, to have esta- 
blished itself in the world, opposed as it was by 
every obstacle that could be thrown in its way, 
if it had not been supported by truth and the 
God of truth ? The belief of your nation in 
general, has answered an important purpose in 
the plan of Divine Providence, as nothing else 
could have given so much satisfaction, that Chris- 



CU LV. 

liris- 
Bllt ' 

, I hop* 

l ■ 

ill be saved, an event w .1 be 

foHov 

Your restoration i 
vine :id of the truth of your r 

and ' tirguimtaiH a to 

■>t Fail to r it that of 

ivfaote world !" In the Spectator, I 
Addison has given a paper on tlv of the 

, written with his a s nuity and 

pietj 



CHINESE RELIG10 

THE Chinese religion is involved in gr» 
Father Aniiot, alter the most 
00 tiie subject; conns to tbi ion: 

u the Chi itinct people, who 

still preserved the charact< 

their first origin ; a people wliose primitive doc- 
trine will be found, by those who take the trou- 
ble 01 investigating it thoroughly, to agree ui its 



CHRISTIANITY. 65 



essential parts with the doctrine of the chosen 
people, before Moses, by the command of God 
himself, had consigned the explanation of it to 
the sacred records ; a people, in a word, whose 
traditional knowledge, when freed from whatever 
the ignorance or the superstition of later ages has 
added to it, may be traced back from age to age, 
and from epocha to epocha, without interruption, 
for the space of four thousand years, even to the 
renewal of the human race by the grandson of 
Noah." The King, or canonical book of the 
Chinese, every where inculcates the belief of a 
Supreme Being, the author and preserver of all 
things. Their great philosopher Confucious lived 
about five hundred years before our Saviour's 
birth, and to this day each town has a place con- 
secrated to his memory. See the late Sir George 
Staunton's Embassy, where much information 
is given respecting their religion. Amongst other 
particulars, it is mentioned, that the Chinese have 
no religibus establishment, 



CHRISTIANITY. 

CHRISTIANITY (to which Judaism was in- 
troductory) is the last and more perfect dispensa- 
tion of revealed religion with which God hath fa- 
voured the human race, It was instituted by Je- 
F2 



I 



ago. 
- at He tl up at N 

id crucit lineage, 

birth, lift 

and on is no - :;»ble 

portion of the glob*, Tl 

ly, prophecies, miracles, the internal i 

of its doctrines and precepts, and the rapid*: 
its fii ration among th< ind the I 

• . 

the doc- 
this religion, ye! tl: 
in the divinity of its origin, and in 

Br: tions of the christian religion, 

^hall be t both f; 

churchm 
tention. 

on, in 

r that tl 
ttions of i <>th in t 1 

ts of 
of 11 : tl world and all tbu 

di- 
: anient t 
; that thei dif- 



CHRISTIANITY* 67 



ference between good and evil, virtue and vice « 
that there will be a state of future rewards and 
punishments, according to our behaviour in this 
life ; that Christ was a teacher sent from God, 
and that his apostles were divinely inspired ; that 
all christians are bound to declare and profess 
themselves to be his disciples ; that not only the 
exercise of the several virtues, but also a belief 
in Christ is necessary, in order to their obtaining 
the pardon of sin, the favor of God, and eternal 
life ; that the worship of God is to be performed 
chiefly by the heart in prayers, praises, and 
thanksgivings ; and as to all other points, that 
they are bound to live by the rules which Christ 
and his apostles have left them in the holy scrip- 
tures. Here then is a fixed, certain, and uniform 
rule of faith and practice, containing all the most 
necessary points of religion, established by a di- 
vine sanction, embraced as such by ALL denomi- 
nations of Christians, and in itself abundantly 
sufficient to preserve tlte knowledge and prac- 
tice of religion in the world,"* 

* Some curious particulars respecting the religion of the 
Hindoos in the East Indies, communicated in the Asiatic Re- 
searches, seem to indicate that it is a corruption of the Chris- 
tian religion. How far the resemblance holds, the reader of 
the Asiatic Researches must form his own judgment. That 
celebrated work was published under the inspection of the 
late Sir W. Jones. The reader should also consult Maurice's 
Indian Antujuites, in. which performance the author discovers 



68 CHRISTIANITY. 

Dr. Sherlock (who succeeded Dr. Gibson as 
Bishop of London) exj himself much to the 

same purpose in the first volume of his sermons. 
Observing that the books of the New Testament 
may be consid* doctri- 

nal, or as controversial, and some as a mixt 
of the two last, he thus proceeds : — <f By the 
doctrinal \vc understand those matters of faith and 
rules of duty which do not regard this or that par- 
ticular faith, but were intended for the use of the 
world, and are to continue to the end of it. And 
if there be a clear law, and clearly expressed in 
the world, this is the law. Can words more 
clearly express the honour and worship we are to 
pay to God, or can more familiar expressions be 
given in this case than are to be found in the gos- 
pel ? Is not idolatry clearly condemned in the 
gospel ? Is there any thing relating to divine wor- 
ship that we yet want instructing in ? Are not the 
duties likewise which we owe to each other made 
evident and plain ; and can there be any dispute 
about them, except what arises from lust, or ava- 
rice, or other self-interest ? As to the peculiar 
benefits of the gospel, are they not declared with- 

a profound acquaintance with oriental literature. Some singu- 
lar specimens, of Egyptian Antiquities are i sited in 
British Museum, which may still further illustrate the reli- 
gion of the Eastern nations of the world. An account [ 
tvas lately inserted in the Monthly Magazine. 



CHRISTIANITY. 69 

out obscurity ? Can you read the gospel, and 
doubt whether Christ died for you ? "Whether 
God will grant pardon to the penitent, or his as- 
sistance to those who ask it 5 whether he will re- 
ward all such in glory who continue the faithful 
disciples of his Son ? What other revelation do 
we want or can we desire, in these great and 
weighty concerns ; or what is there wanting to 
make up a complete system of religion ? M 

The immortal Locke also observes — 4i Who- 
ever would attain to a true knowledge of the 
Christian religion, in the full and just extent of 
it, let him study the holy scriptures, especially 
the Neiv Testament, wherein are contained the 
words of eternal life. It has God for its author, 
Salvation for its end, and truth, without any 
mixture of error, for its matter." Even Rous- 
seau, confessed himself struck with the majesty 
of the scriptures, the purity of the gospel, and the 
character of Jesus Christ. See the late Gerard's 
Dissertations on the Internal evidence of Christia- 
nity, and also Dr. Craig's Life of Christ, writ- 
ten with great good sense and simplicity. 

Many of the serious friends of Christianity are 
alarmed at the progress of Atheism and Deism, 
both at home and abroad. But let not the friends 
of truth be discouraged. That revealed (as well 
as natural) religion is encumbered with difficul- 
ties, has never been denied ; and this trait will* 



70 



with a i ite mind, be < to a 

proof of its u It 

woul J)r. Watson, th 

• , ii tin 

knowled 

th, and to-c! :g agaii, r bo- 

som, thorn the d< pth 

;as, and 
which is t > c rm — the Lord God Almighty, to 
glory and dominion r and t\ 

in a dissolute but enligl ige ; tlie 

dints of our religion are ill suited to the pro- 
fligacy of our manners ; and men are soon in- 
duced to believe that system to be fake which 
they wish to find so : that knowledge, moreover, 
which spurns with contempt the illusions of fa- 
naticism, and the tyranny of superstition, is i 
unhappily misemployed in magnifying every lit- 
tle difficulty attend ing the proof of the truth of 
tianity, into an irrefragable argument oi 
liood. The Christian Religion has no- 
thing to apprehend from the strictest . sttion 
of the most learned of its adver it suffers 
only from the misconceptions of solicits and 
silly pretend* | ^rior wisdom : a little learn- 
far more dangerous to the faith of those 
who it than ignorai. me 1 






CHRISTIANITY. 71 

know affect to believe, that as the restoration of 
letters were ruinous to the Romish religion, so 
the further cultivation of them will be subversive 
of Christianity itself : of this there is no danger. 
It may be subversive of the reliques of the church 
of Rome, by which other churches are still pol- 
luted ; of persecutions, of anathemas, of ecclesi- 
astical domination over God's heritage, of all the 
silly out-works which the pride, the superstition, 
and the knavery of mankind have erected around 
the citadel of our faith ; but the CITADEL itself is 
founded on a rock, the gates of hell cannot pre- 
vail against it — its mastej-builder is God ; its 
beauty will be found ineffable, and its strength 
impregnable, when it shall be freed from the 
frippery of human ornaments, and cleared from 
the rubbish of human bulwarks."* 

The excellent Dr. Doddridge also thus happily 
expresses himself on the subject." €C The cause 
of Christianity has greatly gained by debate, and 
the gospel comes like fine gold out of the fur- 
nace, which the more it is tried the more it is 
approved. I own the defenders of the gospel 



* This prelate has published two Sermons in defence of 
Revealed Religion, together with some Charges weli worthy of 
perusal. His discourse before the London Hospital, May, 
1802, contains a popular • (lustration of the evidences of Chris- 
tianity, 



72 



of 

, 

ii ; but on the 
who! gh the of infidelity have 

been ma* wit, humour, and addi 

moderate share of learning, and 
generally of much more than a moderate shaft 
surance, yet so great is the force of truth, 
that (unless we may except those wrto 
have unhappily called for the aid of the 
magistrate in the controversy) I cannot recollect 
that I have seen any defence of the gospel, which 
has not on the whoh ufficient to establish 

it, notwithstanding all the sophistical argum- 
ents mo.st subtle antagonists. Th 
vation which is continually gaining new strength, 
as new assaults are made upon the gospel. And I 
cannot forbear saying, that as if it were by a kind 
of judicial infatuation, some who hi 
tinguished themselves in the wretched eause of 
infidelity, have been permitted to fall into such 

ts incon- 
sistencies, and such palpable falsehoods, and in a 
word, into such various and malignant super- 
fluity of haughtiness, that to a wise and pious 
mind, they must appear like those venomous 
creatures, which are said to carry an antidote in 
their bowels against their own poison. A virtu- 
ous and well-bred Deist inust turn away from 



CHRISTIANITY. 73 

some pieces of this kind with scorn and abhor- 
rence, and a Christian might almost be tempted 
to wish that the books, with all their scandal* 
about them, might be transmitted to posterity, lest 
when they come to live, like the writings of some 
of the ancient heathens, only in those of their 
learned and pious answerers, it should hardly be 
credited that ever the enemies of the gospel, in 
such an enlightened age, should be capable of so 
much impiety and folly." 

Finally, to use the words of the late ingenious 
Mr. Clarke, in his answer to the question, Why 
are you a Christian ? — cc Not because I was bom 
in a Christian country, and educated in Christian 
principles ; not because I find the illustrious Ba- 
con, Boyle, Locke, Clark, and Newton, among 
the professors and defenders of Christianity ; nor 
merely because the system itself is so a%mirabty 
calculated to mend and exalt human nature, but 
because the evidence accompanying the gospei 
has convinced me of its truth*- The secondary- 
cause assigned by unbelievers do not, in my judg- 
ment, account for the rise, progress, and early 
triumphs of the Christian religion* Upon the 
principles of scepticism, I perceive an effect with- 
out an adequate cause. I therefore stand acquit- 
ted to my own reason, though I continue to be- 
lieve and profess the religion of Jesus Christ. 
Arguing from effects to causes, I think I have 



74 



d to a choice 
ilties, ] i : eounti r not n ad- 

mitting the mini 
th<* arbitrary suppositions and com* f his 

" That there once c 

s Christ ; that he appeared in Judt a in the 
D of Tiberius ; that he taught 
morals superior to any inculcated in the J< 
schools; that he was crucified at Jerusalem; and 
that Pontus Pilate was the Roman governor, by 
whose sentence he was condemned and executed, 
are facts Which no one can reasonably call in 
question. The mo ' :>: admit 

them without difficulty. And, incited, to d: 
these facts, would be giving the lie to all 
A. will might we deny tin ce of Cicero 

n by the name of Jeeua Christ. And 
With equal propriety might we call in question 
the orations of the former as the discourse! of the 
Jatter. We are mor tain that tin 

tcrtained the Romans with his eloquence, and 
that the other enlightened thi 
dom. But it 

who 

And tiu se eminent Roma 

veral particulars which relate to tl n of 



CHRISTIANITY. 75 



Jesus Christ, his influence as the founder of a 
, and his crucifictiou. From a deference to 
human authority, all therefore acknowledge that 
the Christian religion derived its name from Jesus 
Christ. And many are so just to its merits, as to 
admit that he taught better than Confucius, and 
practised better than Socrates or Plato. But I 
confess my creed embraces many more articles. 
I believe that Jesus Christ was not only a teacher 
of virtue, but that he had a special commission to 
teach. I believe that his doctrines are not the 
works of human reason, but of divine communi- 
cation to mankind. I believe that he was autho- 
rized by God to proclaim forgiveness to the pen- 
itent, and to reveal a state of immortal glory and 
blessedness to those who fear God and work 
righteousness. I believe, in short, the whole 
Evangelical history, and of consequence the di- 
vine original of Christianity, and the sacred au- 
thority of the gospel. Others may reject these 
things as the fictions of humour, art, or policy, 
but I assent to them from a full conviction of 
their truth. The objections of infidelity have 
•ften shocked my feelings,, but have never yet 
shaken my faith. 

" To come then to the question — Why are 
YOU A CHRISTIAN ? I answer, because the 
Christian Religion carries with it interna! 
marks of its truth ; because net only without the 



CH80HAN 



aid, but in op| 

the jit of some pr«'i 

hich have l fulfilled ; 

oik! • author di 

perl- >k not 

Upon t 
tc a Christian*. 
I till the evidence on which they reft, can be 
counter-* > I must r> 

:id my profession.* 
Tin in Sherlock, Gibson, Locke, 

Watson, Doddri , .1 Clarke have I 

few 
oth the nature and evidences of Cl 
a nit v. Tin.. 

R • Hal!, of Cambridge — " \ t the 

.ice of more than half a centurj Christianity 
tutted by a Woolston, a Tindal, aj 
Morgan, it was ably supported both by c!< 
menoftl :rcn ami amongst 

Protestant 1 thf Ubours of a Clarke 

associated with those of a 
Doddridge, a Leland, and a Lardner, with 
\tion and success, as to make it 
of religion i 
ijftt tiit aid a | that with or 



CHRISTIANITY*. Jf 

„ — »- ■■ * 

without a dowry her charms are of equal force to 
fix and engage the heart." 

It would, however, be as useless as it is im- 
possible, to refer the reader to all the principal 
treatises which have been written at different pe- 
riods for the defence and illustration of the Chris- 
tian religion. But a few ought to be mentioned 
in justice to the subject ; and those alone shall be 
specified which are the easiest of access. The 
student may therefore consult Lardner's Credit 
bility, Watson's Theological Tracts, Priestley's 
Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion^ 
Butler's Analogy, and both Maltby's Illustra- 
tions and Paley's View of the Evidences of 
Christianity. For the use of private Christians^ 
take Doddridge's Three Sermons on the Evi- 
dences of the Christian Religion? Plain Reasons 
for being a Christian, and an answer to the 
question, Why are you a Christian, by an Amer- 
ican Divine, but reprinted in this country. Nor 
can it be improper here to mention a small piece 
just publised by Mr. Richard All chin, of Maidstone, 
entitled " A Familiar Address to young Persons- 
on the Truth and Importance of Christianity." 
The substance of Volumes is comprised within, 
about thirty pages — drawn up with neatness and 
simplicity. And solemnly doth it concern both 
ttiiuisters and parents, as they are accovultjible at 
G2 



?$ 



the tribunal of , to furnish the RISING 

CEXKRATIO iples, which, 

by operating on human con- 

will insure their temporal and eternal felicity. 



MAHOMETANISM. 

MAHOMETAN the religion of Motor 

, who was barn in 571, at Mecca, a city of 
Arabia, and died at Medina 631. His $y€teni hi 
a compound of Paganism, Judaism, and Chi 
amty ; and the Alcoran, which is their Bible, is 
held in great reverence. It is replete with absurd 
■ mentations, and is supposed to be written by 
a Jew. The most eloquent passri 
be the following, where God is introduced, bid* 
^ing the waters of the deluge to cease. €t Earth 
swallow up the waters ; heaven draw up those- 
thou hast poured out : immediately the w 
•etreated, the command of God was obeyed, the 
ark rested on the mountains, and these words 
were heaul — \f)oe to the wicked !* Lust, ambi- 
tion, and cruelty, are the most prominent tra 
ilahomet's conduct ; and Voltaii written a 

fine tragedy on this subject. The great doctrine 
$f the Alcoran is unity, of God , which, together 
Yfith the mission, of €Hfig$ 3 is strongl; 



MAHOMETANISM. 7* 

upon by the prophet. Indeed he persuaded his 
followers that he was the Paracelete or comforter 
which Christ had promised his disciples, In this 
respect the Mahometan religion constitutes .a 
powerful collateral proof of the truth of Christia- 
nity. Nor has this circumstance, suggested ts 
me by a worthy friend, been sufficiently consi- 
dered by christians. Thus- we may extract good 
from evil, and it is our duty to avail ourselves of 
every thing which tends to augment the eviden* 
ces of our holy religion. Dean Prideaux hath 
largely proved, in his letter to the Deists of the 
Present Age, that there are seven marks of a» 
imposture, that these all belong to Mahometan- 
ism, and that not one of them can be charged or 
Christianity. See Sale's Alcoran, Prideaux's 
Life of Mahomet, Dr. White's Sermons at the 
Bampton Lecture, and Dr. Toulmin's excellent 
Dissertations on the internal Evidence of Christi- 
anity, and on the Character of Christ compared 
with that of other founders of religion or philo- 
sophy. Mr. Gibbon, in his Roman History, 
gives the following curious specimen of Maho- 
metan divinity ; for the Prophet propagated his 
religion by force of arms : — " The sword (saith 
Mahomet ia the key of heaven and of heL'j a 
drop of blood shed in the cause of God, or a 
ftight speat in armsj is of more avail thaa twt> 



80 MAHOMETAN! 



months of fating or prayer. \Vh 

ire forgiven at the day of judg- 
ment ; his wounds shall be resplendent as 
ion, and odoriferous as mu^k, tin loss of his 
limbs shall be sup} the wings of angels and 

" 1 never wondered (says an ingenious author} 
that the attempts of Mahomet to establish 
ligion were crowned with success* ui I 

Koran, an ine the materials of 

which it is composed ; when I observe how much 
the work is indebted to the Jewish and Chri 

, when I survey the particular 
which Mahomet or his agents supplied ; 
see with how much art is accon. 

dated to the opinions and habits of ti 
Christians, and Pagans; when 1 coj what 

indigencies it grants, and what future s< 
unfolds ; when I advert to the peculiar cir< 
stances of the times, when its author formed the 
vast design of assuming the royal and prop 
character; and more than all, when » 
plate the reformer at the head of a conquering 

p the Koran in one hand, and in the ou 
sword, I cannot be surprized at the civil and re- 
ligious revolution, which has immortalized his 
name. With his advantages, how could lie fail 
gt success ? livery thing favoured the, entciprize* 



MAHOMETANISM. 8 1 



The nations beheld a military apostle* And they 
who were unconvinced by his arguments, trem- 
bled at his sword."* 

Having given this preliminary account of Athe* 
ism, Deism, Theopkilanthropism, Judaism, 
Christianity, and Mahometanism, we now pro- 
ceed to the DENOMINATIONS of the Christian 
world. In the first ages of Christianity there 
were various sects which have long ago sunk 
into oblivion, and whose names therefore exist 
only in the pages of ecclesiastical history. It 
is not our purpose even to glance at these an- 
vient sects, but only briefly to notice those which 
in the present day attract our attention. The 
most distinguished may be included under the fol- 
lowing arrangement : — Opinions respecting the 
person of Christ ; respecting the means and 
measure of God's favor; and respecting Church 
Government and the administration of ceremo~ 
nies. 



* Mahometanism distributes itself into two general parts 
Faith, and Practice — the former containing six branches — belief 
in God ; in his angels ; in his scriptures ; in liis prophets ; in the 
resurrection and final judgment ; in the divine decrees — the 
latter relating to prayer with washing — a&ns— iasting — pilgrim- 
age to Mecca, and wcujnaUion,. 



TRI! 



I. 

OPINION 

JESUS C! Qg the medium by w 

the Diity hath imp;:: iiowledge of his will 

to mankind, the person of Christ has been eagerly 
investigated, and the nature of God rendered the 
subject of rude and unhallowed controv 
This has filled the religious world wit: 
contention?, nor are they likely to be brought 
speedily to a termination. In the mean tin 
would become us to discuss this topic with mo- 
y and humility. It is, ho my pre- 

sent province to state the existing opinions re- 
rpecting this abstruse subject ; it shall be done 
in a few words, and I hope with a degree of 
accuracy. 



TRINITARIANS. 

THE Trinitarian ve the doctrine of a 

Trinity, by which is understood, that 

there are three distinct persons in one undivi 
Godhead — the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost. The word Trinity is not to he found in 
the Bible, but is a scholastic term, derived from 
the Latin word Trinitas, denoting a thrce-fol* 



ATHAN ASIANS. 83 



unity. Calvin himself reprobates the term, as 
being barbarous, and of human invention. The 
most learned writers entertain such various and 
contradictory sentiments respecting this mystery, 
that it is difficult to know to whom the term 
Trinitarian is justly applicable. Waterland, Howe, 
Sherlock, Pearson, Burnet, Beveridge, Wallis, 
and Watts, have each of them separate opinions 
on this subject. Dr. Priestly, however, thinks 
Trinitarians reducible to two classes ; those who 
believe that there is no proper divinity in Christ, 
beside that of the Father ; and the class of Tri- 
theists, who maintain that there are three equal 
and distinct Gods, 



ATHANASIANS. 

NEARLY allied to this latter class are the 
r 4thanasians, a name derived from Athanasius, a 
father of the Christian church, who lived in the 
fourth- century. The creed which bears his 
name in the Common Prayer-Book, is not of 
his composition ; and So little attached was Arch- 
bishop Tillotson to it, that in writing to Dr. Bur- 
net, the historian, he says, * I wish we were 
well-rid of it." The episcopal church in Amer- 
ica has rejected it,— -Were the account of the 
doctrine of the Trinity contained in this creed 



84 



mnatory 
, and ha 

and 
wort; the established church. On 

I p Dr. P, i, in h 

s willi candour and moderation — " Great 
tion lias been made to the clauses of tfaii 
lj which denounce eternal damnation against 
who do not believe the Catholic faith as 
here stated ; and it certainly is to be lamented, 
that assertion? of so peremptory a nature, unex- 
plained znd unqualified, should have been used 
in any human composition." The prelate tlun 
&VOUN to account for the introduction of 
such clauses into the creed ; ?nd then adds : — 
cf We know that different persons. have deduced 
rent and even opposite doctrines from the 
words of Scripture, and consequently there must 
liry errors among Chriil bat since the 

gospel no Where informs us, what degree of error 
will Exclude from eternal happiness — I am ready 
to acknowk : * in my judgment, notwith- 

standing the authority of former I r church 

won! nd more 

and 
ition, if -iot adoptee 1 mnatory 

d ! Tl 
ftrmlj 

j tin c, 1 cannot but coin 



ATHANASIANS. Sb 

it to be both unnecssary and presumptuous to 
say, that €€ except every one do keep them whole 
and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish ever- 
lastingly." 

Mr, Broughton, in his Dictionary of all Reli- 
gions, under the article Trinity, has the follow- 
ing paragraph, which may assist the reader 
on this most abstruse subject. ** The doctrine 
of the Trinity, as professed in the Christian 
church, is briefly this : that there is ONE GOD in 
THREE distinct PERSONS, FATHER, SON, and 
HOLY GHOST ; person signifying here the same 
as, essence, with a particular manner of subsist- 
ence, which the Greek fathers called hypostasis, 
taking it for the incommunicable property that 
makes a person. The Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, are believed to be thre distinct persons in 
the divine nature; because the Holy Scriptures, in 
speaking of these three, so distinguish them from 
one another, as we use in common speech to 
distinguish three several persons. There are 
many instances to this purpose, particularly the 
form of administering the sacrament of bap- 
tism, which runs, in the name of the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; and that so- 
lemn benediction with which St. Paul concludes 
his second epistle to the Corinthians : The 
Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. And the 
H 



*"J ATHANA3IANS. 



three Witnesses in Heaven, mentioned by St. 
John.* 

" Each of these three persons is affirmed to be 
Gon, because the names, property?, and ope- 

tions of God, are in the Holy Scriptures, attri- 
buted to each of them. The divinity of the 
Fi'lvr h out of the question. That of the Son, 

proved from the following texts, among many 
otl t. John says, The word was God : St 

Paul, that God was manifested in the Jlesh ; 
that Christ is over all, God blessed for even 
Eternity is attributed to the Son : The Son hath 
life in himself. Perfection of knowledge , — 
the Father knoweth me, so know I the F 
The Creation of all things — All things 
made by him, and without him was not any 
thing made that was made. And we arc com- 
manded to honour the Son as we honour the 
Father. The divinity of the Holy G 
upon the following proofs, among others — Lying 
to the Holy Ghost is called lying to God. Be* 
cause Christians are the temples of the Holy 
Ghost, they are said to bi nples of God* 

p ■■■ " ■■■■■ ■ ■ ■" 

• This passage has for some time been deemed an intrrfv 
•*, and Dr. ap in hii Elements of Theology. 

Mr. Parson, a profound Greek urliolar, baa, it i thougl 
Tby frith Archdeacon Travis, to have act* 



ATHAN ASIANS. 87 

His teaching all things, his guiding into all 
truth, his telling things to come, his searching 
all things, even the deep things of God, &c. are 
alledged as plain characters of his divinity. Be- 
sides he is joined with God the Father, as an ob- 
ject of faith and worship in baptism and the 
apostolical benediction. This doctrine is called 
a mystery, because we are not able to compre- 
hend the particular manner of existence of the 
three persons in the divine Nature." Dr. Jere- 
miah Taylor remarks with great piety, that u He 
who goes about to speak of the mystery of the 
Trinity, and does it by words and names of man's 
invention, talking of essences and existences, hy- 
postases and personalities, priorities in co-equali- 
ties, and unity in pluralities, may amuse himself 
and build a tabernacle in his head, and talk some- 
thing he knows not what ; but the good man, 
who feels the power of the Father, and to whom 
the Son has become wisdom, sanctification, and 
redemption, in whose heart the love of the Spi- 
lt of God is shed abroad ; this man, though he 
understands nothing of what is unintelligible, yet 
he alone truly understands the Christian doctrine 
of the Trinity." 

It were well, if before we made up our mind 
on this intricate article of faith, we were care- 
fully to read Dr. Watts's Essay on the Importance 
of any Human Schemes to explain the Doctrine 






•f the Trinity. Th 
jucIi seiu me of 

tion j t use 

1 i th< < 

SUch i ; t to I e pi (XM mo 

J on the 
oce« 
Bishop Burnet tells u«, that before thi 
mation it \\ i.ind to have pi< I 

of the Trinity. Cod the Fatl ted 

in the shape of an old nvan with a triple ci 
and rays about his head ! 'i ., in another 

part of the picture, looked like a young man, 
i a single crown on his head, ; diant 

countenance. The blessed Virgin was L 
them, in i sitting posture ; and the H< I; 
under the appearance of a dove, spread his wings 
over her. This picture, he tells us, is still to be 
<n in a prayer-book printed in the year 1526, 
cording to the ceremonial of Salisbury. Skip- 
pon also tells us, there is at Padua a ta- 

of the Trinity, being the figure of an old 
man with tlir- ! and three itow 

contrary are t resentations of the 

Deity to the sublime declaration of our Saviour, 
John iv. 24. " God is a spirit, and they that 
worship him must worship him in spirit and in 
truth. " 



SABELLIANS. 89 

I II I I II I I ■!■ .11. . f, | | , t 

SABELL1ANS. 

THE Sabellian reduces the three persons in 
the Trinity to three characters or relations. This 
has been called by some a modal Trinity, and 
the persons who hold it Modalists. Sabellius, 
the founder of the sect, espoused the doctrine in 
the third century. Of his tenets, the accounts 
are various. Some say, he taught that the Fa- 
ther, Son, and Holy Spirit, were one subsist- 
ence, and one person, with three names ; and 
that in the Old Testament the Deity delivered 
the law as Father, in the new Testament dwelt 
among men as the Son, and descended on the 
Apostles as the Holy Spirit. This opinion gains 
ground in the principality of Wales. u The Sa- 
bellians (says Mr. Broughton) make the Word 
and the Holy Spirit to be only virtues, emana- 
tions, or functions of the Deity. They held that 
he who in heaven is the Father of all things, 
descended into the Virgin, became a child, and 
was born of her as a Son," and that having ac- 
complished the mystery of our salvation, he dif- 
fused himself on the Apostles in tongues of fire, 
and was . then denominated the Holy Ghost, 
They resembled God to the sun, the illuminative 
virtue or quality whereof was the Wordy and its 
charming virtue the Holy Spirit, The word they 
H 2 



QO SABELLLV 



accom- 
d that being re- 
i, as the raj 
source, the warmth of I 

ifter a lil to the ap Such 

v :uage of the . 

Between t!. n of Sabellianism, and wliat 

is termed the Indwelling 

to b^ resembi it be not pre- 

The In- 
dwelling .scheme is chiefly founded on that 
sage in the New Testament, where the ape 
I ing of Ch: — " In him dwelleth all 

: the Godhead bodily." Dr. W 
towards the close of his life, became 
and wrote .several pieces in defence of 
sentiments on the Trinity appear to have been, 
that " the Godhead, the Deity 
distinguished a? the Father, was united to the 
man Christ Jesus, in consequence of union 

or indwelling of the Godh prop- 

n the Trinity, in a 
phfci just* i 

Chichester. It war, printed by the Doctor in 

1. It J 5 I I 

valual light in justice to tf. 

have ' 

irs that Dr. Watt* h . 
t& the common notion oi ity. 



AtUANS. fll 



crly God. ,, Mr. Palmer, in his useful edition 
of Johnson's Life of Watts, observes that Dr. 
Watts conceived this union to have subsisted be- 
fore the Saviour's appearance in the flesh, and 
that the human soul of Christ existed with the 
Father from before the foundation of the world : 
on which ground he maintains the real descent 
of Christ from heaven to earth, and the whole 
scene of his humiliation, which he thought in„ 
compatible with the common opinion concerning 
him. Dr. Doddridge is supposed to have been 
of these sentiments, and also Mr. Benjamin 
Fawcet, of Kidderminster, who published a val- 
uable piece, entitled Candid Reflections concern* 
ing the Doctrine of the Trinity. 



J RUNS. 



THE Jrian derives his name from Arms, a 
Presbyter of Alexandria, who flourished about 
the year 315, and the propagation of whose doc- 
trine occasioned the famous council of Nice, as- 
sembled by Constantine, in the year 325. Arius 
owned Christ to be God in a subordinate sense, 
and considered his death to be a propitiation for 
sin. The Arians acknowledge that the Son was 
the word, though they deny its being eternal ; 
contending, that it had only been created prior 



S2 ARIAN3. 



:o all other things. Chi * had no- 

thing of man in him, except the Beth, with 

which the Logos, or word, spoken of by the 
apostle John, was united, which supplied the 
rest. The Arians, though they deny that Christ 
is the eternal God, yet they contend against the 
Socinians for his pre-exist ence. His pre-i 
ence they found on the two following pass;: 
among many others : — Before Abraham was, 
I am. And the prayer of Jesus — iC Clarify me 
with that glory which I had with thee BEFORE 
the world began. These and other texts of a 
similar kind, are in their opinion, irrefragable 
proofs that Christ did actually exist in an 
state before he was born of the Virgin 
the land of Judea. This matter has been argued 
by various writers ; and names of the first char- 
acter have distinguished themselves in the Arian 
controversy. It has also been strongly urged by 
the advocates of Arianism, that the pre 
dignity of Christ, accounts for that splendid ap- 
paratus of prophecies and miracles, with which 
the mission of t: lab was attended. In 

modern times, t i. innately 

applied to those who consider Jesus simply sub- 
ordinate to the Father. Some of them believe 
Christ to have been the creator of the world ; 
but they ALL maintain that he existed previous 
to* his incarnation, though in his pre-exL 



ARIAN9. 93 



state they assign him different degrees of dignity. 
Hence the appellation High and Low Arian. 

That valuable practical writer, Mr. Job Orton, 
though he never published any thing explicitly 
on the Trinity, is supposed, during the latter 
period of his life, to have entertained these sen- 
timents of the person of Christ. He used to re- 
commend the two following tracts, as having 
n him the most satisfaction on that subject — 
A Sober and Charitable Disquisition on the I?n- 
portance of the Doctrine of the Trinity, by Si- 
mon Brown ; and An Essay towards a Demon- 
stration of the Scripture Trinity, by Dr. Scott : 
a new edition of which has been published by 
the venerable Mr. Samuel Goadby. Of the sys- 
tem of Arianism, Dr. Clarke, in his Scripture 
Doctrine of the Trinity, Mr. Henry Taylor 
(for many years Vicar of Portsmouth) in his 
learned work, entitled Ben Mordecai's Apology, 
Mr. Tompkins, in his Mediator, and Mr. Hop- 
kins, in his Appeal to the Common Sense of all- 
Christian People, have been deemed the most 
able advocates* Mr. Whitson, the famous astro- 
nomer and translator of Josephus, revived this 
controversy in the begining of the last century. 
Soon after, Dr. Clarke published his celebrated 
treatise, entitled, the Scripture Doctrine of the 
Trinity, which was disapproved of by the con- 



34 ARIAN:-. 



vocation, and an nd, who 

had been charged with verging towards Trithe- 
ism. Erasn. s the Encyclopedia Britan- 

nic a) u seeow d to have aimed in some 
to restore Arianism at the beginning of the 16th 
century, in his Commentaries on the New Tes- 
tament. Accordingly he was reproached by his 
adversaries with Arian interpretations and glosses, 
Arian tenets, &c. To which he made little an- 
iwer, save that there was no heresy more tho- 
roughly extinct than that of the Arians." But 
Erasmus is known to have been exceedingly tim- 
id his disposition, and confessed in one of his 
!ett< rs to a friend, that he possessed not the spirit 
of a martyr. Of the truth of this declaration, 
there were many proofs. 

The history of the Arian controversy, in mod- 
ern times, may be found in a pamphlet, entitled, 
" An account of all the considerable Books and 
Pamphlets that have been wrote on either side, 
in the controversy concerning the Trinity, from 
the year 1712; in which is also contained an 
Account of the Pamphlets written this last year 
on each side by the Dissenters, to the end of the 
year 1710 : published at London, 1720. 

Thomas Emlyn, a pious and learned divine, 

should be mentioned here, since he has been rcn- 

i memorable for his sufferings in the cause 



ARIANS. - 95 



of Arianism. He was a dissenting minister in 
Dublin, and there shamefully persecuted on ac- 
count of his religious sentiments. He rejected 
the common notion of the Trinity, but firmly 
maintained the pre-existence of Christ. He died 
in London, 1741, and his works were published 
by his son, an eminent counsellor, in three vol- 
umes : to which are prefixed memoirs of ths 
author. 

Dr. Price, in his sermons on the Christian 
doctrine, has taken great pains in explaining and 
defending the principles of Arianism. He states 
at large the nature of the doctrine, and enume- 
rates the advantages arising from it in the expli- 
cation of the Scriptures. To these discoures, 
the reader is referred, and whatever he may think 
of the arguments urged in favour of that system, 
he must admire the truly Christian spirit with 
which they are written. 

Some few Aran's, and most of the present So- 
cinians add to theif creed the doctrines of Neces- 
sity, Materialism, and Universal Restoration, 
though these tenets are by no means peculiar to 
them. Towards the close of this Sketch will be 
found an explanation of Universal Restoration : 
and some little account shall be here given of 
Necessity and Materialism, 



98 ARIANS. 



NECESSJRIJNS* 

THE doctrine of A e origin 

of human B< specific mode ol the 

divine government It teaches that all actions, 
both good and bad, are strictly necessary — thus 
nstancc cannot be otherwise than it 
is throughout the creation of God, Much, con- 
trov. been on t 

Collins, Priestly, and Cronibie ; Palmer, 
Price, and Gregory, are authors who have dis- 
tinguished themi i the controversy ; the 
three former being for, and the three latter 
agai: . . Doctor Crombie and Doctor 
now agitating the question, 
and therefore more pieces may b ted from 
them on the subject. The opponent! of N< 
sity strenuously maintain, tliat it destroys all vir- 
ind vice ; whilst its advoca! are it to 
be the most consistent mod ining the 
divine government I f is not for us to determine, 
on so profound i lies ; 
and it is remarkable, that tl y of the 
their- ' I 
according to the Hilton— 

Others apart, sat on a V. 

In thought* nrioie el 

Of oc, fore-luv i i fats ; 

will, fore-V 
And found nj . I 



MATERIALISTS. QJ 

To short-sighted mortals, with all their boasted 
wisdom, the subject must appear dark, and in 
many respects unfathomable. The solution of 
Micii dirficulties ought to be referred to a more 
enlightened sphere of being ! Dr. Watts, indeed, 
thinks it probable that it will constitute one of 
the sublime employments of the blessed in the 
heavenly world. 



MATERIALISTS. 

THE doctrine of Materialism respects the na- 
ture of the human soul, and the peculiar mode of 
its existence. It teaches that the soul is not a 
principle independent of the body, but that it 
results from the organization of the brain, though 
in a manner which will not admit of explication. 
This doctrine is thought by its advocates to be 
not only more philosophical — but to point out 
more fully the necessity and value of a resurrec- 
tion from the dead— which is a leading doc- 
trine of Christianity. Materialists deny any in- 
termediate state of consciousness between death 
and the resurrection. Drs. Price and Priestly 
had a friendly correspondence on this article ; 
and though Dr. Price was no materialist, yet he 
did not hold with an intermediate state. Those 
who deny the existence of an intermediate state, 
I 



i>& 



. See Arch- 

trovcrsy, and Dr« L rheo- 

ry of Natural and n. The 

Light of h rch 3 

I curious work relating to I 
It contains ingenious illu our's 

real name was Tucker ; he died in 177 

II id not K( and Mai n more 

of a philosophical than of a theological nature, 
they should have received a :ion. 



SOCIM 

THE Socinian takes his 
Socinus, who died ill Poland, 1 604. Ti; 

; bore the name Socinus-, I -1 ne- 

v, and both 
Socinian asserts, that Chri 
until born of the i and that, 

J a man like 0U1 . with 

B huge portion of I 

I 
of repentant 

I of the divin niplc 

for o 
blooii — 

y of ou 



SOCINIANS. 99 



last dav. The simple humanity of Christ, which 
forms a principal article of their creed, is founded 
on passages of Scripture, where the Messiah is 
spoken of as a MAN, particularly the following : 
2 Acts xxii. Ye men of Israel hear these words, 
Jesus of Nazareth, a MAN, approved of God 
among you, &c. — 17 Acts xxxi. Because he 
hath appointed a day in the which he will judge 
the xvorld in righteousness by that MAN, ivhom 
he hath ordained, &c. — 1 Tina. ii. v. There is 
one God and one Mediator between God and 
men, the MAN Christ Jesus — At the same time 
it must be acknowledged that neither the Trini- 
tarian, nor Sabellian, nor Arian denies his hu- 
manity ; though they do not hold it in that ex- 
clusive and simple sense of the word, for which 
the Socinian contends. On this account it is, 
that the Socinians have received on some occa- 
sions, the appellation of Humanitarians. 

Between ancient and modern Socinians, how- 
ever, a considerable difference obtains. The mi- 
raculous conception, and the worship of Christ, 
both allowed by Socinus, are rejected by most of 
the modern Socinians. Dr. Priestly distinguished 
himself in a controversy on this subject with Dr. 
Horsley, the present Bishop of St. Asaph. Dr. 
Priestly had published his two principal theolo- 
gical works ; the one to prove that the first 
Christians were Unitarians,, entitled, The History 



100 socixr 



tarty Op Qt for the 

ily call* d the 

orthodox d< tory o/ 

Corruptions of Christianity. On one or both 
of these publications, the Bishop severely ani- 
madverted ; and to these animadversions Dr. 

My mad< al spirited replies. It is diffi- 

cult to trace the origin of the Socinitn contro- 
versy. John iius is said to be the fii 

reformers who distinguished himself on this 
side of the question. Next Michael Sei 

; sh physician, whom Calvin persecuted i 
to d ath ; for in ir 1553 he was con 

ted tu the flames, by persons who had tl 

: churchy 
who at least had nominally erected tfa rd of 

religious liberty. u Jt is impossible (says Dr. 
Maclaine) to justify the conduct of Calvin in the 
case of ServettiSj whose death will be an indelible 
reproach upon the character of that eminent re- 
former. The only thing that can be alledged, 
not to deface, but to diminish his C > that 

it was no natter for him to divest himself at 

once of that persecuting spirit which had been 
so long nourished and strengthened by the Popish 
religion, in which he was educated. It \\ 
remaining portion of the spirit of popery in the 
brea.-t of Calvin, that kindled this unchri tian 
ztA against the wretched Servetus." See the 



SOCINIANS. 1G1 



Life of ServetuSy where the tragedy is detailed 
with all its circumstances of brutality. Having 
mentioned the persecution of Servetus by Cal- 
vin, truth on the other hand, requires it to be 
mentioned that Socinus has been accused of per- 
secuting Francis David, who, on account of his 
rejecting the worship of Christ, was cast into 
prison, where he died. The persecuting spirit, 
discoverable in some of the reformers, dimin- 
ishes the respectability of their characters, and 
the only apology that can be made for them is, 
what has been already mentioned, that the nature 
and foundation of religious liberty were not then 
fully understood. 

The Socinians flourished greatly in Poland 
about the year 1551 ; and J. Siemienius, Palatine 
of Podolia, built purposely for their use the city 
of Racow. A famous catechism was published 
by them, called the Racovian Catechism ; and 
their most able writers are known among the 
learned by the title of the Polones Fratres y or 
Polonian Brethren. " Their writings were (says 
Dr. Madame) republished together in the year 
1656, in one great collection, consisting of six 
volumes in folio, under the title of Bibliotheca 
Eratrum. There are, indeed, in this collection, 
many pieces wanting, which were composed by 
the most eminent leaders of the sect ; but what 
is there published is nevertheless sufficient to give 
12 



102 



the atteir ear idt 

, and of the nature of tt 
tution, as a religious community." An I 

ig account of these several 
as of the persecution of Fr 1! be 

Dr. Tol. \Afe of Socinus. 

But the S^ 
seWes the appellation of Unitarians ; and by 
le they are now more . 
Though to thi 
no exclu- it more cor- 

rectly descriptive of their religious tenets than 
»f Socinianv nee many of 

the opinions of Socinus. The Arians, if not 
Trinitarians, are equal! :ous for the 

&ey*8 Hostorical I 
of Unitarianism y Dr. Toulmin's Life of Socinus, 
Hopton I ire Account (f the At- 

p of God, and of the Char- 
actcr and Offices 
BeUham's A\ to Mr. IVilbcrforce, \\ 

modern I 1 and defend- 

ed with abflil 

The TrinitcirirMi^, . 
: 
of t' 
both J)r. I 



SOCINIANS. 103 



iity of the Holy Ghost , published in 
1787. In Doddridge's Lectures much informa- 
tion is given respecting this and almost every 
other article of the Christian faith. Dr. Kippis, 
not long before his death, published an edition 
of this valuable work, with considerable addi- 
tions and improvements. The private Christian 
M well as the theological student, will derive 
an extensive knowledge from the attentive peru- 
sal of it. 

I* A note added to this publication by Dr. Kip- 
pis, and applicable to this Jirst division of reli- 
gious opinions, is of so excellent a nature, that 
I am tempted to transcribe it. u When it is 
considered, how extremely difficult many ques- 
tions in themselves are, and what different con- 
clusions have been drawn concerning them by 
men of the profoundest knowledge and deepest 
reflection, there is a modest scepticism, which it 
will become young students to preserve, till time 
shall have given them the opportunity of wider 
enquiry and larger observation. This remark 
would not have been made, if instances had not 
occurred of youth who have eagerly, and even 
arrogantly adopted an hypothesis on one side or 
the other, without sufficiently exercising that pa- 
tience of thinking, and that slow progress of ex- 
amination, which are likely to be the most favour- 
able to the acquisition of TRUTH." 



104 



( AL 



II. 
IONS RESPECTING AND 

)R. 

CHRISTIANS having the pi 

of Christ — wlnt! nal God — 4 

an Angel possessing an ous to hit 

being born of the Virgin Mary — or a Man> 

r the guidance of inspiration — I 
to oonsider the extent of the blessings of the gos- 

:md the manner in which they have been 
conveyed to us. This circumstance also, has 
been the source of endless contentions. P 
and charity have been not unfrequently lost in 
the discussion of the Even the metho- 

- Ives split into two g 
coming it, and the controvtr 

'ive leaders has I • 

attempt the delineation of this l opinions 

with brc 



CILriXISTS. 
THE Cahinist adheres to the doctrines 
Calvin taught at G< l()j wlu. 

was proffsior of Divinity. The tenets of Cal- 
itiODj original sin, particular 
nption, irresistible grace, and 

ints. These, in the thcolc. 
i, are tcnued the Jive points ; 



CALVINISTS. 105 



have been the controversies agitated respecting 
them. As the Calvanists differ among them- 
selves in the explication of these tenets., it would 
be difficult to give a specific account of them. 
Generally speaking, however, they comprehend 
the following propositions : 1st. That God has 
chosen a certain number in Christ to everlasting 
glory, before the foundation of the world, accord- 
ing to his immutable purpose, and of his free 
grace and love, without the least fore-sight of 
faith, good works, or any conditions performed 
by the creature; and that the rest of mankind he 
was pleased to pass by, and ordain them to dishon- 
or and wrath for their sins, to the praise of his 
vindictive justice. 2dly. That Jesus Christ by 
his death and sufferings, made an atonement only 
for the sins of the elect. 3dly. That mankind are 
totally depraved in consequence of the fall ; and, 
by virtue of Adam's being their public head, the 
guilt of his sin was imputed, and a corrupt nature 
conveyed to all his posterity, from which prooceed 
all actual transgressions, and that by sin we are 
made subject to death, and all miseries temporal, 
spiritual, and eternal. 4thly. That all whom God 
has predestinated to life he is pleased in his ap- 
pointed time effectually to call by his word and 
Spirit out of that state of sin and death in which 
they are by nature to grace and salvation by Je- 
sus Christ. And 5thly. That those whom God 









shall n< from 

Son d that the Trinitj of 

the tli 

, who I the 

od of Dort (wh< 

article of the Trinity g 
nerally agreed. The most prominent 

ion of some, and n 
lion of o1 ' ojn all ( I 

The Calvinists found their sentimei 
lion on the og 

Id; 
and more particularly on certain i by 

Paul, in bis Epistle to the R 
To the Epistolary writer.-, indeed, they more 
frequently refer than to any otlu r part of the New 
T> lament. The chief advantage of tl ;n, 

in tl .on of its advocate is to produce in 

a most reverential wwe when up to 

God, and the profound*. $t humility when v. 
look down upon ou: 

To the Calvinists also belongs more particularly 
the doctrine of atonement, or that Christ, by h 
death, made satisfaction to the divine justice for 
the ilect, appeasing the anger of the Divine 
-ting on his part a reconciliation. 
Thl Christ had the sin of the elect laid 

upon him ; and in this sense, Luther said that 



CALVIN1STS. 107 



Jesus Christ was the greatest sinner in the 
world ! ! ! The sentiment is fully expressed by 
Dr. Watts in these lines — 

Rich were the drops of Jesus' blood 

That calm'd Ids frowning face, 
That sprinkled o'er the burning throne, 

And turn'd the tvratb to grace ! 

The manner also in which other Calvinistic 
writers have expressed themselves on the death 
of Christ may be seen by consulting the Univer- 
sal Theological Magazine , for November 1802, 
where Mr. R. Wright, of Wisheach, has col- 
lected together passages illustrative of the subject. 
This doctrine, however, is strongly reprobated 
by some of their divines, who consider the death of 
Christ (with the Arians and Sabellians) as simply 
a medium through which God has been pleased 
to exercise mercy towards the penitent. Hence 
it has been remarked that God is represented as 
reconciling by the death of Christ not himself to 
man but man to himself. God was in Christ re- 
conciling the world to himself not imputing 
their trespasses unto them. 2 Cor. v. 19. See 
Mr. Fuller's publication, entitled, The Calvinist- 
ic and Socinian Systems compared, Which has 
been admired by some of the Calvinists, and con- 
demned by others of them, as not coming up to 
the full standard of orthodoxy.* 

* Having referred to this publication, it may be proper to 
jobserve, that it treats of the Calvinistic system, and ended- 



108 .-UBLAPSARIA.VS A ARIAVS. 

Bur tain the real a n 

of CI « td to the 

m y whuh is taught 

to con- 
tain . ii nt of their religion? opinions. 
::::::::::::::: 
SUBLAPSAIUANS 

AND 

SVPRALAPSAR1ANS. 
AMONG the refinements of Calvinism are to 
inked the distinctions of the Sublapsarians 
and Supralapsarian*. The Sublapsarians a 
that God had only permitted the first man to fall 
into transgression, without absolutely pre-fi 
mining his fall ; whereas the Supra:: 



vours to defend it from the absurdities and impitties with 
it has been charged in the writings of the modern Socinians. 
Accordingly I >r. Toulmin a nd Air. Kentish have come forward 
i Li unimad versions, to which their an- 

tagonist has replied. Dr. Pnestly and Mr. Behham, indeed, 
against whom Mr. F.'s criticisims are chiefly di; 
Healed it in * different manner. Ti 

• ;cr mentioni it in his reply to Mr. 

rforce, with great contempt. H . marks, th-. 

amount of it.- bo as ted » being 

. you Sociniai.s. our doctrines must 

be true r<> 8 be es- 

I mad ial publications. I>r. Tou 

|HibhY. edition oi I 

t tiui disjn 

boasts ci 



SVSLAPSARIANS AND SUPRALAPSARIANS. 10& 

maintain that God had from all eternity decreed 
the transgressions of Adam, in such a manner 
that our first parents, could not possibly avoid 
this fatal event. Dr. Doddridge in his Lectures, 
has thus stated these abstruse distinctions — " The 
Supralapsarianand Sublapsarian schemes agree 
in asserting the doctrine of predestination, but 
with this difference, that the former supposes 
that God intended to glorify his justice in the con- 
demnation of some, as well as his mercy in the 
salvation of others, and for that purpose decreed 
that Adam should neeessarily fall, and by that fall 
bring himself and all his offspring into a state of 
everlasting condemnation ; the latter scheme sup- 
poses that the decree of predestination regards 
man as fallen by an abuse of that freedom which 
Adam had, into a state in which all were to be 
left to necessary and unavoidable ruin, who were 
not exempted from it by predestination." Re- 
cent divines, who have gone to the height of 
Supra-lapsarians, are Mr. Brine, and Dr. GUI. 
Were any thing more necessary to elucidate this 
subject, it might be added- — that the term Supra- 
iapsarius is derived from two Latin words, Su- 
pra, above, and lapsus the fall : and the term 
Sublapsarians, from Sub below or after, and lap- 
sus the fall. 

Calvin, in his Institutes, states and defends* 
at large the principles of the system. It is writ 
J 



110 



ARMINIAN.-. 



It Latin, is dedicated to Francis 
of Fram dedication has 

beei • d for its boldness and magnanimi 

For a defence of Calvinism, see Edwards on 
. , B H Tracts, Dr. Gill's Cau.< 
God and Truth, and Toplady's Historic Proof 
of the Calvinism of the Church of England. 



♦ •• ...... 

JRMINIJXS. 

THE Arminian favours the tenets of Ar 
11 ius, the disciple of Beza, and latterly an 
nent professor of divinity at Leyden, who flourish- 
ed about the year 1600. Thinking the doc- 
trine of Calvin with regard to free-will, predes- 
tination, and grace, directly contrary to the mild 
and amiable perfections of the Deity, he began 
to express his doubts concerning them in the 
year 1591 ; and upon further enquiry, adopted 
sentiments more nearly resembling those of the 
rans than of the Calvinist>. After his ap- 
pointment to the theological chair at Leyden, he 
thought it his duty to avow and vindicate the 
princi :c!i lie had embraced ; and the f 

dom with which lie published and defended them, 
exposed b:m to the n at of those that ad- 

hered to the theological system of Geneva. The 
controversy thus begun in the life-time of 
minius, ended not with his death, and for a long 
time rou:cd the violence of contending pas- 



ARMINIANS. Ill 



sions.* His tenets include the five following 
propositions : 1st, That God has not fixed the 
future state of mankind by an absolute uncondi*- 
tional decree ; but determined from all eternity, 
to bestow salvation on those whom he foresaw 
would persevere to the end in their faith in Jesus 
Christ, and to inflict punishment on those who 
should continue in their unbelief, and resist to 
the end his divine assistance, 2dly. That Jesus 
Christ by his death and sufferings, made an atone- 
ment for the sins of all mankind in general, and 
of every individual in particular ; that however 
none but those who believe in him can be par- 
takers of this divine benefit, 3dly. That man- 
kind are not totally depraved, and that depravity 
does not come upon them by virtue of Adam's 
being their public head, but that mortality and 
natural evil only are the direct consequences of 
his sin to posterity. 4thly. That there is no such 
thing as irresistable grace, in the conversion of 
sinners. And, 5thly. That those who are united 
to Christ by faith, may fall from their faith, and 
forfeit finally their state of grace. Thus the fol- 
lowers of Arminius believe that God, having an 
equal regard for all his creatures, sent his Son to 
die, for the sins of the whole world ; that men 



* Arminius's motto was a remarkable one—" A good cot> 
science is a paradise" 



ARMIN 



the power of doing the wi. I, other- 

oba- 
tion and condemnation ; and that, in the 

p if not pr; 
tj may, through the force of u n 
from grace, and sink into final perdition. 
The Arminians found their sentiments on the ex- 
ions of our SAVIOUR respecting i n g' 
ness to save all that come unto him ; especially 
on his prayer over Jerusalem— his Sermon on the 
mount, and above all on his delineation of the 
process of the last day, where the salvation of 
men is not said to have been procured by any de- 
cree, but because they had done the their 
Father, who is in heaven. This last argu;: 

deem decisive ; because it cannot be sup- 
posed that Jesus, in the account of the judgment 
i would have deceived them. They also 
say, the terms in the Romans respecting election, 
are applicable only to the state of the Jews as a 
body, without a reference to the religious condi- 
tion of individual-, either in the present or future 
■world. 

Dr. Whitby, the commentator, who was ori- 
ginally a Calrinist, has written a large and ela- 
borate defence of Arminianism ; and the reader 
should consult Dr. Taylor's Key fo the Epi 
to the Roman*, which has been much admired, 
on tl & Since the day* of Laud (who was 






ARMINIANS. 113 



Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of Charles 
the First) by far the majority of the English cler- 
gy have taken this side of the question. Bishop 
Burnet has given a full account of the opinions 
of this sect, in his Exposition of the seventeeth 
Article. 

In the last century disputes ran very high in 
Holland between the Calvinists and the Armi- 
nians. On each side considerable talents and 
learning were displayed ; but some shamefully 
called in the interference of the civil power, and 
thus terminated a controversy which for some 
years had agitated the religious world. For this 
purpose the famous synod of Dort was held,. 
1618, and a curious account of its proceedings 
may be seen in the series of letters written by the 
ever-memorable John Hales, who was present 
on the occasion. This synod was succeeded by 
a severe and scandalous persecution of the Armi- 
nians. The respectable Barnevelt lost his head 
on a scaffold, and the learned Grotius, condemned 
to perpetual imprisonment, escaped from the cell 
and took refuge in France. The storm, how- 
ever, some time after abated, and Episcopius, an 
Arminian minister, opened a seminary in Am- 
sterdam, which produced some able divines and 
excellent scholars. 

The principal Arminian writers are Episcopius* 

Vorstius, Grotius, Limborch, Le Gere, Wet* 

J2 



114 BAXTERIA 



gteuij not to mention many others 01 
: tieularly Mr. John 

nd in 1 j en- 

Philosophy. 

The Arminians arc somci lied the 

momt rants, because thi 

, 
for relief. See an interesting work, entitled, 
An Abridgement of Gerrard Brandt 1 >ry of 

ion in the Low Countries, 2 vols. 
8vo. 



XTERIAXS. 

THE Baxtrrian strikes into a midc! 
between An m and Calvinism, and thus 

endeavours to unite both i the 

Calvinist, he pi e that a 

nunv termined upon in the council?, 

will be infallibly d with the I 

he joins in rejecting the i te of reprobation 

bsurd and impious ; admits that , in a 

•■, died for all, and supposes that 
a portion of gr. i lott I ry ma: 

wn fault if he does not attain to 

-onfomh • 



BAXTERIANS. 115 



ter, who lived in the last century, and who was 
equally celebrated for the acuteness of his con- 
troversial talents, and the utility of his practical 
writings. Hence came the term Baxterians, 
among whom are generally ranked both Watts 
and Doddridge. In the scale of religious senti- 
ment, Baxterianism seems to be with respect to 
the subject of the divine favor, what Arianism is 
with respect to the person of Christ. It appears 
to have been considered by some pious persons 
as a safe middle way between two extremes. 
Baxter was an extraordinar} 7 character .in the re- 
ligious world. He wrote about 120 books, and 
had above 00 written against him. Though he 
possessed a very metaphysical genius, and conse- 
quently sometimes made a distinction without a 
difference, yet the great object of most of his 
productions was peace and amity. Accordingly 
his religious system was formed not to inflame 
the passions and widen the breaches, but to heal 
those wounds of the Christian Church, under 
which she had long languished.^ 



* For the particular detail given of the Calvinistic and Ar- 
menian sentiments, see a brief but useful history of the Chris- 
tian church, in 2 vols, by Dr. Gregory. The best and amplest 
ecclesiastical history is Mosheim's, in 6 vols, translated from the 
Latin into English by Dr. Machine, of the Hague, who has 
enriched it with many valuable notes. Dr. Priestly has just 
published in six octavo volumes a History of the Christian 
Church, from the birth of the Messiah down to the present time. 



116 ANTIXOMI 






XTIXOMUSS. 
THE Ani : ; ne from two 

liis t is not a 

to believers. It is not easy to B 

what he means by this position. But lie seem* 

doctrine of the imputed right 
of Christ, and of salvation by faith without 
worl as to injure, if not wholly 

destroy, the obligation to moral obedience. An* 
tinomiani^m may be traced to the period of the 
reformation, and its promulgator was John Agri- 
cola, originally a di P Lu1 1 e Pa- 
, in their disputes with the I 1 itfl of 
that day, I the merit of good works to an 
•.vagant length ; and this induced some of 
opponents to run into the oppe 
This sect (says the Enc \g up in 
England, during the protectorate of Oliver Crom- 

, and extended t!u m of lil 

much farther than Agricola, th( it Lu« 

main- 
tain' I cannot fall from c 
nor ! Your, the wicked actions 
commit are not really sinful, nor are they 

r \ iolation of 
the divine law, I occa- 

ieir em* or to break them 



: 



ANTINOMIANS. 1 1 7 



off by repentance. According to them it is one of 
the essential and distinctive characters of the 
elect, that they cannot do any thing displeasing 
to God, or prohibited by the law. Luther, Ru- 
therford, Sedgwick, Gataker, Witsius, Bull, Wil- 
liams, &c. have written refutations ; whilst Crisp, 
Richardson, Saltmarsh, put forth defences of the 
Antinomians ; Wisgandus wrote " A Compar- 
ison between ancient and modern Antinomians." 
The late Rev. Mr. Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley, 
in Shropshire, published Four Checks to dntino- 
mianism> which have been much read, and great- 
ly admired. 

The term Antinomian has been frequently fix- 
ed on persons by way of reproach ; and there- 
fore many who have been branded with this 
name have repelled the charge. There are many 
Antinomians, indeed, of a singular cast in Ger- 
many, and other parts of the continent ; they 
condemn the moral law as a rule of life, and yet 
profess a strict regard for the interests of practical 
religion. Many persons, however, who repro- 
bate the system of John Calvin, pronounce Anti- 
nomianism to be nothing more than Calvinism 
run to seed. Speculative sentiments of any kind 
ought not to be carried to a degree which might 
endanger even in appearance the sacred cause of 
moral it v. 



118 CIirRCH GOVERNMENT. 

III. 

OPINIONS RESPEC CIU'RCII COYLRN- 

M) TH 
OF C 



IftlNTj AM) TH HON 



" THE extent of Christianity in the world, or 
all those several kingdoms and countries where 
the Christian religion is pro tnd embi l 

Mr. Martin in his Philological Library) are 
taken together, called Christendom ; and this 
consists of many (some more general, some more 
particular, kc.) different religious soci» 
which are called churches. A Chri 
is a society cr congregation of men and won 
who are called out from the VICIOUS world b\ 
preaching of the gospel, and are regulated in all 
the parts of their ritual discipline and article 
faith by the plain rules and prescriptions of the 
lent, and whose lives are correspond- 
ent to their holy p ' rs of 
the Christian Church, in its primitive were 

ordinary or ordinary. The Extraordinary 
were chiefly three : 1. Apostles y who were dele- 
gated by Christ with power and commission to 

h the gospel, and work miracles in confir- 
mation thereof among all nations. 2. Prophets, 
who were not e ply foretold things, 

but those to whom God was pleased to re 



CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 119 

his more secret counsels and designs, and who 
related and preached the same to men. 3. 
Evangelists , such as were assistants to the 
apostles in preaching the gospel, and were en- 
dued with many extraordinary gifts of the Holy 
Spirit, as of languages and interpretations, &c. 
But since the establishment of Christianity in the 
world, these extraordinary offices have ceased. 
The ordinary ministers of the Christian church 
are principally three : 1. A Bishop, who had 
the oversight of the flock or church of Christ ; 
to him pertained the preaching of the word, and 
due regulation of the church in faith and man- 
ners. And this rule and precedence of the Bishop 
is called Episcopacy. 2. Presbyters or Elders, 
or Priests ; these were such as preached the 
word, and administered the sacraments, and per- 
formed all the other sacred functions of the min- 
istry, under the inspection of the Bishop. But 
it is a controversy, whether the scripture doth 
not intend the same person or officer by the ap- 
pellations Bishop and Presbyter. The power of 
the Presbyter is called Presbytery. 3. Deacons ; 
these were such as officiate in that part of the 
Christian ministry which related to the poor, 
and their business was to take the collection of 
money made in the church, and to distribute it 
to the necessities of the poor, and other sacred 
uses. A&d their office, properly speaking; is 



120 PA1 i 



d the Ministry or D hip. These offi- 

D church." — 
r this intnxl of the t 

tian church, I proo be Opinions rcspecU 

ing church government and the administration 

of cere mo ti. 



PJPIS 



THE P fcted from their 

I — the Infallibility and supremacy of 
the Pope (ill 'In, Papa, signifying fa* 

strenuously maintain. By the inj 
/ of the Pope, is understood, ti. Pope 

cam: iastical matters ; and bj 

-macij is meant his authority ovgr all the 
churches, and sometimes over all the princt 
the earth. This enormous power has been for 
some time diminishing, and the Roman Catho- 
lics at present are divided on this subject. Some 
allow the Pipe's infallibility and supremacy 

; others acknowledge 
part ; and a third wholly reject them. The late 
Father O" also may he consulted, 

who had a dispute on Popiry with the Reverend 
John Wetfey, Tlu ik-vr, l. 

\en sacraments — baptism, confirmation, the 

aee, extreme unction, or the 



PAPISTS. 121 



anointing the sick in the prospect of death, or- 
ders, and matrimony. With respect to the Eu- 
charist, or Lord's Supper, they hold the doctrine 
of tran&ubstantiation, or that the bread and wine 
are changed into the body and blood of Christ ; 
the paying divine worship to the host, or conse- 
crated wafer, and the allowing communion only 
in one kind, viz, bread to the laity, 2. In works 
of supererogation, as that the good works of 
saints are meritorious enough to supply the defi- 
ciency of others. 3. In the celibacy, or single 
life of the clergy, 4. In the use of images and 
sacred relics. The charge of worshipping Images 
has been brought against them, and though it 
may prevail among the lower classes, yet the 
more intelligent disown every thing of the kind* 
And 5. In the celebration of divine service in an 
unknown tongue. Many, however, of the ad- 
herents to Popery, in the present day, reject 
some of the above tenets ; and more especially 
renouncing the supremacy of the Pope, distin- 
guish themselves by the name of Catholics, and 
sometimes of Catholic Dissenters. The pub- 
lications of the late Dr. Geddes, on this subject, 
are worthy of attention. He was a liberal and 
learned priest among this class of the Roman Ca- 
tholics, and was for several years engaged in a 
translation of the Bible under the patronage of 
Lord Petre, Among the Roman Catholics there 
K 



122 rAFi 



I o be found several monastic orders, such as 
\ugiutines, the Benedict!: Carrm I 

the Dominicans, the Fra:, . and also a 

rach as ll 3 the Ja 

nits, the Multilists, and othi f whom 

sects of celebrity. The ingenious Pai 
in his Provincial Letters, aimed an effective 
blow at the order of the Jesuits, and it was abo- 
lished in France in 1762, on the supposition that 
they adopted practices inimical to the welfare of 
their country. 

In the council of Trent, held 1540, the tenets 

of the Papists were I into one compact 

standard, and the summary of Popery, exhibited 

in Pope Pius's creed, contains the substance of 

the decrees and canons of this council. The 

creed is divided into twenty-four articles. The 

Rrtt twelve are expressed in the words of the 

d called the Nicene; and the remaining twelve 

are new articles, truly Romish. See Burroughs 

taken from the Creed of Pope 

Pius the Vlth, 1735. Father Paul, of Venice, 

imortalized hin a history of the 

rcuncil of Trent ; and though himself a P 

yet he has exposed with freedom the intrigues by 

which this council was conducted. Bellarmine, 

an acute Jesuit, and Bos>uet, the Bishop of 

Miaux, are the two most celebrated defenders of 

:} ■ They had also among>t them several 



PAPISTS. 123 



eloquent preachers ; and the sermons of Massi- 
lon, Bourdaloue, and Flechier, are esteemed 
models of pulpit eloquence. In this country 
several penal laws were in force against the Ro- 
man Catholics ; but most of them were repealed 
in the course of the present reign. It was an op- 
position to the repeal of these laws that occa- 
sioned the disgraceful riots, which broke out 
during the month of June, 1780, and threatened 
the destruction of the metropolis ! 

It is remarkable that the Papists have had 
amongst them a Pope, who used to be denomina- 
ted 3 Protestant Pope. His name was Ganga- 
nelli, and he is known to the world under the 
title of Clement the 14th. His liberality ap- 
peared in his actions, and it was his common 
saying, " We too often lay aside charity to 
maintain jfaitA, without reflecting that if it is not 
allowed to tolerate men, it is forbidden to hate 
and persecute those who have unfortunately em- 
braced it." He died in 1775, not without sus- 
picion of being poisoned. Such a character must 
be pronounced an honour to the Romish church, 
and it is to be hoped that there are many individ- 
uals of this description to be found in her com- 
munion. As to his letters, which for the libe- 
rality of their sentiments and the elegance of their 
diction have been much admired, many entertain 
doubts of their authenticity. Archbishop Fenelorr 



124 TAP, 



uishcd tor hit benevolence and 

Her* the account of Po| uld have ended, 

bad not their doctrine of Indui. rved 

particular t xplanation. The history and form of 

indulgences are thus given us by that emi- 

:i Dr. Robertson, in hi ;y of 

th. " According to the doctrine 

of th h church, all the good works ti 

saint and abov( which wen 

. own justification, are depoeit* 
ed togctht r, with the infinite 

t, in one inexhaustable treasury. T 
of th committed to St. Peter, and t< 

, who may op< n it at plea- 
sure, and ferring a portion of ti 
abundant merit to any particular person f 

, may convey to him either the pardon 

\8 S or a release for any out in whom 

ted, from the pains of purgatory; 

which indulg were first invented in the 

ury, by Urban tl 
compense for those who went in person upon the 
meritorious i iA (commonly called the 

Crusades) of conquering the holy land. They 
rds granted to those who hired a 
•soldier for that purpose ; and in process of time 
towed on such as gave money for ac- 
complishing any pious work enioined by U P 



PAPISTS. 125 



Julius the Second had bestowed indulgences on 
all who contributed towards building the church 
of St, Peter at Rome : and as Leo the Tenth 
was carrying on that magnificent and extensive 
fabric, his grant was founded on the same pre- 
tence," 

The following is the form of these indulgences s 
€€ May our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon 
thee, and absolve thee by the merits of his most 
holy passion. And I, by the authority, of his 
blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and of the most 
holy Pope, granted and committed to me in these 
parts, do absolve thee, first" from all ecclesiastic- 
al censures, in whatever manner they have been 
incurred, and then from all thy sins, trangres* 
sions, and excesses,- how enormous soever they 
be even from such as are reserved for the cogni- 
zance of the holy see, and, as far as the keys 
of the holy church extend, I remit to thee all 
punishment which thou dost deserve in purgatory 
on their account ; and I restore thee to the holy 
sacraments of the church, to the unity of the 
faithful, and to that innocence and purity which 
thou didst posses at baptism ; so that when thou 
dost die the gates of punishment shall be shut 
and the gates of the paridise of delight shall be 
opened ; and if thou shalt not die at present, this 
grace shall remain in full force when thou art at 



120 IHTvCH. 

the point of death. In I FatMKj 

and of the Son, and of the Holy Gh 

This w >rm of absolution used by Ti* 

i friar, who in ti nth cen- 

tur \ , was appointed to i iulgtur- 

Myi which eventually brought about the 
mat ion. 
This article shall conclude with the mention of 
tract on Popery, entitled, • A Modest 
logy for the Roman Catholic* of Great Brit- 
d to all mod 
I i the Members of both Houses of Pa 
T iecc came from the pen of the late 
, who has been already mentioned, 
is written with his usual learning and 
nuity. It igj indeed, a singular performance, and 
v attention. 



I 



GREEK, OR RUSSL1X CHURL 
THE (. or Russian Churchy which now 

If over th< 
• 
of Rome, 
and sup. 
nion wil . th< ;> U 

f, they an 
l. The rejection of 
of the i 



GREEK, OR RUSSIAN CHURCH. 127 



trine of consubstantiation, or the union of the body 
of Christ with the sacramental element. 3. The 
administration of baptism, by immersing the 
whole body in water. 

The Russian, or Greek church equals the 
Latin or Romish church in the number of cere- 
monies and superstitious customs ; some of which 
are thus described in Chantreau's Travels into 
Russia : — <€ At the beginning of the year, the 
king's day is a singular festival, which the Rus- 
sians call the benediction of waters. On the 
Neva, then frozen, there is raised for the cere- 
mony a kind of temple, of an octagonal figure, 
on the top of which is a St. John the Baptist, and 
the inside is decorated with pictures, representing 
the baptism of Jesus, his transfiguration, and 
some other parts of. his life. There your atten- 
tion is drawn to an enormous Holy Ghost, ap» 
pearing to descend from heaven, a decoration 
common to all the Greek churches, which intro- 
duces the Holy Ghost every where* In the mid- 
dle of the sanctuary is a square place, where the 
broken ice leaves a communication with the waters 
running below, and the rest is ornamented with 
rich tapestry. Around this temple there is erected 
a kind of gallery, which communicates with one 
of the windows of the imperial palace, at which 
the empress and her family come out to attend the 
ceremony, which begins as soon as the regiment 



128 CREEK, OR N CHURCH. 

! the 
\) y at the sound d of the 

artii! 

the little temple we have just mentioned. W 

, he 

w.itt r. There be i 

i 
the great St N , I th< then 

tliought blessed. The pr< 

on the company around him, and on the colours 
of all tl: that happen to I Pi - 

i 
Then ' wd to\> 

which ti. 
They drink of tl ith a ho y. Not- 

. 
infants, and the old men th< 

for the purification of I , and ci 

r is a powerful 
to 1 
Q, four popes, \vh( 
of t!, ng a kind of litany, in \\ 

. the titl< 

'. 
— Maj God tab 



GREEK, OR RUSSIAN CHURCH. 120 

■ , ' . "' "T ■ ■ i i . i ,, T . 

" The Russians have a great number of absti- 
nences, or fasts, and among the rest four lents. 
*' The Greek priests have much more rever- 
ence and meditation in their way of going through 
divine service, than the Latin or Romish priests ; 
and the discipline of the church directs, that 
when once a priest is at the altar, he must not re- 
move from it during the time he ought to stand 
there, whatever may happen to him. For in- 
stance : we are told, that the prelate Gabriel, at 
present metropolitan of Novogorod, and Archi- 
mandrite, to St. Alexander Neuski, being one day 
engaged in saying mass at St. Petersburg, the 
house contiguous to the church took fire, and the 
flames reaching the steeple, Gabriel was warned 
of the danger he was in, and yet he stirred not, 
even although he was told a second time, that the 
bells would not be long in bruising him to atoms, 
As the cries of the multitude, conjuring him to 
remove from certain death, made no impression 
on him, one of his relations leaped towards the 
altar, and tore him from it. Scarcely was he 
twenty paces from it, when the steeple fell in 
with a great crash upon the sanctuary !" 

Efforts have been made to join the Greek to 
the reformed church ; but hitherto they have 
failed of success. The Rev. Dr. John King pub- 
lished an account of the doctrine, worship, and 
discipline of the Greek church in Russia. There 



130 GREEK, OR RUSSIAN CUTRm. 

are si round in the Russian 

Catechism, composed by the Czar, and \\ 
I in London, l 
tstical Researches, and in a work not long 
ago pul»! untied, Memoirs of the 

Court of Petersburg. 

That the reader may form some judgment of 
the present state of the Greek church, the last 
mentioned work blowing 

fact, translated from the Imperial Gazette 
Petersburg : 

Petersburg, 17th Dec. 1798. 

" In 1796, a coffi unci at the com 

of Simjov:::, in the city of Trotma, in t 
ehv of Volgoda, containing ft corpse, in * 
of a monk. It had been interred in 15^8, 

in a state of perfect preservation, as were 
also the garments. From the Utters embroidered 
on them, it was found to be the body of the i : 
memorable Feodose Sumorin, founder and 

r of the convent, and who had been ac- 
knowledged lint during 
mirac " it is 
that the directing synod had made a very humble 
report on this occasion to hi 
After which follows the Empero e or pro- 
clamation. 

" We Paul, &c. having been certified by a 
special report of the mosl I ynod, of 



GREEK, OR RUSSIAN CHURCH. 131 

covery that has been made in the convent of 
Spasso-Sumovin, of ^the miraculous remains of the 
most venerable Feodose, which miraculous re- 
mains distinguished themselves by the happy cure 
of all those who have recourse to them with 
entire confidence : we take the discovery of 
these holy remains as a visible sign, that the 
Lord has cast his most gracious eye in the most . 
distinguished manner on our reign. For this 
reason, we offer our fervent prayers and our gra- 
titude to the supreme Dispenser of all things, and 
charge our most holy synod to announce this 
memorable discovery throughout all our empire, 
according to the forms prescribed by the holy 
church, and by the holy fathers, &c. The 28th 
.September, 1798." 

The following anecdote, however, from the 
same work, and on the same subject, almost ex- 
ceeds credibility ;« — " I knew a Russian princess, 
who had always a large silver crucifix follow- 
ing her, in a separate carriage, and which she 
usually placed in her bed-chamber. When any 
thing fortunate had happened to her in the course 
of the day, and she was satisfied with her admir- 
ers, she had lighted candles placed about the cru- 
cifix, and said to it in a familiar style— " See, 
now, as you have been very good to-day, you 
shall be treated well— you shall have candies all 
night — I will love you — I will pray to you," If 



1)2 CREEK, OR RUSSIAN CliURClI. 

on the contrary, any thing occurred to vex this 

id the candles put out, forbid the 
vants to pay any ho .. poor image, and 

!oad< id re vilii !, The 

author closes the chapter with this i para- 

h — " I shall not particularize all the super- 
stitions with which such a religion, if it deserves 
that name, must necessarily inspire an ignorant 
and enslaved people. It seems the present policy 
to thicken the clouds of error, which the genius 
of Peter, the humanity of Elizabeth, and the phi- 
losophy of Catharine, sought in some degree to 
. While we pity the state of degrada- 
tion under which a great people crouches, we 
should do justice to the enlightened Russians, by 
whom it is lamented, but they are chained by pre- 
judices, as the giant Gulliver, by the Lilliputians ; 
his bonds were weak and imperceptible as his 
enemies were minute, but every one of his hairs 
were feeperatefy fastened to the ground, and he 
bis head." 
In addition to the books already mentioned, I 
shall of the Greek Churchy with 

recommending Mr. Tookk's History of Russia, 
which may be satisfactorily consulted on this as 
well as on other subjects ; it is replete with in- 
formation. 



PROTESTANTS. 133 



PROTESTANTS. 

UNDER the appellation of Protestants, we 
include all who dissent from Popery, in whatever 
country they reside, or into whatever sects they 
have been since distributed. Abroad they are 
divided into two sorts — the Lutherans, who ad- 
here to Luther's tenets ; and the Reformed, who 
follow the discipline of Geneva. They were 
called Protestants, because, in 1592, they pro- 
tested against a decree of the Emperor Charles 
the Fifth, and declared, that they appealed to a 
general council. At present this vast class com- 
prehends those whom Papists used contemptu- 
ously to style Hugonots in France ; the Refu- 
gees in Holland, who fled thither upon the revo- 
cation of the edict of Nantz, 1685 ; the Presby- 
terians in Scotland ; the Episcopalians and Non- 
conformists in England ; together with a nume- 
rous body of Christians in America. 

As the Protestants originated at the REFOR- 
MATION, it will be proper to give a brief account 
of this illustrious period of ecclesiastical history. 



134 PROT!>TA\ 



TH I PION 1 1A\Y. 

FOR the tint- ^ion of 

idly 
• ntileij and suffer- 

08 from the R 
On the commencement of the fourth i 

tantine became a convert to Christianity, and 

incorporated it with the state. " It was not till 
the fifth, or near the sixth a .-•ltury, that the Bit-hop 
of Rome arro tned an illegal supremacy 

hi> fellow pastors, and in process of time 
aimed at a secular government of princes as well 
ts. Though i mbraced 

and defepded Christianity, yet the gradu 
of the Roman empin i serious 

to the rising preachers of the n< 
religion. Those accpmplisements which adorn- 
ed the conquests of the Rpmans, and th 
tion of science, which had dignified th< 

,ch an extent, wep gradually swept a\\; 
the bar! :■> which defeated tfa 

the close of the sixth century pould not tiace a 

ige of thi iment, or its 

i four an ndred 3 

the glorious luminary of th 
the dismal return of ignoi *.ion.* 



* r J inly called the 

- 



PROTESTANTS. 135 

To these dark ages (as they are by some justly 
termed,, and by others, called the night of time) 
are to be attributed the doctrine of indulgences, 
partial absolution, transubstantiation, the creation 
and worship of saints, purgatory, monastic seclu- 
sion, &c. So swift was the extinction of knowl- 
edge, and its revival so impeded, that persons of 
the greatest eminence in point of station could 
scarcely read or write. The clergy themselves, 

festine, or the land of Judea, and thus to rescue the holy sepul- 
chre out of the hands of Infidels. There were eight of these 
crusades, the first in the year 1096, the last in 1270, assisted 
fey Prince Edward, afterwards Edward I. King of England. 
The number of lives lost in these Quixotic expeditions, is incre- 
dible ! and it will remain to future ages a matter of astonish- 
ment, how enthusiasm and superstition could so completely in- 
fatuate the human mind. An account of the Crusadasis given 
in Robertson's Charles the Fifth, and in Hume's History of 
England. 

The Inquisition was a tribunal erected by the Popes for the 
examination and punishment of heretics. It was founded in 
the twelfth century, by Father Dominic and his followers, who 
were sent by Pope Innocent the Third to inquire into the num- 
ber and quality of heretics, and then to send an account to 
Rome. Hence they were termed Inquisitors, and their court 
the Inquisition. This infernal court was established in all Italy 
and the dominions of Spain, except Naples and the Low Coun- 
tries. Its cruelties were shocking beyond description j and 
were only one half of the bloody tale true, yet even then there 
is sufficient to freeze you with horror 1 See Dr. Chandler's 
History of the Inquisition, which is full of interesting informa- 
tion on the subject. 



130 VRUTl 



jroaped what little scj aing, 

couKI liturgy : and, \ 

that 
I 

« The information woi effected in the 
teenth century, by the pious labours and unv 

f those bright characters, Erasmus, 
Luther, Huss, Jerome of Prague, &c. and | 

should seem the particular act of Providence to 
facilitate i >.nirs, and extend their influ 

we find but half a century be: I 

LUTHER, the e of printing w 

edf and not long before that of the making of 

" This indefatig >rmer, having the way 

somewhat cleared for him by Erasmus, had the 
happiness to discover a copy of the Bible in the 
neglected library of his monast Prom so 

valuable a discovery the talents and ation 

of this great man were called forth into more 
than ordinal ise ; and he quickly 

aside the veil which had concealed the rooted 
errors and abominations of the priesthood, and 
exposed the craft and artifice which had | 

, and disgraced the doctrine of the 
Unawed by persecuiton, h< 



PROTESTANTS. 137 

inventions of the church of Rome, and over- 
threw them. He asserted and proved, that mo- 
nastic retirement, if not contrary to, was no 
where required by the laws of God ; and pro- 
posed to the elector of Saxony, by whose per- 
mission he reformed the several churches within 
his dominions, to expel all abbots and monks, 
and to convert the convents of mendicant friars 
into public schools and hospitals. He proceeded 
to expose all the absurdities and superstitions of 
the Romish church, and had the satisfaction to see 
his cause prevail." Birch's Concilia. 

Dr. Robertson also observes — *" It was from 
causes seemingly fortuitous, and from a source 
very inconsiderable, that all the mighty effects of 
the REFORMATION flowed. Leo the Tenth, 
when raised to the papal throne, found the re- 
venues of the church exhausted by the vast pro- 
jects of his two ambitious predecessors, Alexan- 
der the Sixth, and Julius the Second. His own 
temper naturally liberal and enterprising, render- 
ed him incapable of that severe and patient oecon- 
omy which the situation of his finances re- 
quired. On the contrary, his schemes for ag- 
grandizing the family of the Medici, his love of 
splendor, his taste for pleasure, and his magnifi- 
cence in rewarding men of genius, involved him 
daily in new expences ; in order to provide a fund s 
for which, he tried every device that the fertile 
L 2 



138 



on to drain the 
mult it u 
I > a of indulge; 

t , to* 

ire in ti i a the 

. 

::, and o, as 

at for retailing then 

lean friar, of li 
morals, but 

and popult He assist- 

ed by cora- 

with 
though, by mag- 
iy the of their indul- 

i and disposing of tl low 

, they carried on foi me an i 

and lucrative traffic among the credulous multi- 
tude ; th- tee of tii- 

1 their conduct, can 
to g. nee, TI 

much weakh, in 

I tkd the 
delusion of th* people, who, beiqg taught to rely 
for the pardon of t 

which they purchased, did not think it incum- 
bent l.ound in faith or to j 
the most unthinking < 



PROTESTANTS. ISO 



shocked at the scandalous behaviour of Tetzel 
and his associates, who often squandered in 
drunkenness, gaming, and low debauchery, those 
sums which were piously bestowed, in hopes of 
obtaining eternal happiness ; and all began to 
wish that some check were given to this com- 
merce, no less detrimental to society, than de- 
structive to religion. 

*S The corrupt state of the church prior to the 
reformation, is acknowledged by an author who 
was both abundantly able to judge concerning 
this matter, and who was not over forward to 
confess it."— •" For some years (says Bellarmine} 
before the Lutheran and Calvinistic heresies were 
published, there was not, as contemporary au- 
thors testify, any severity in ecclesiastical judica- 
tories, any discipline with regard to morals, any 
knowledge of sacred literature, and reverence for 
divine things ; there was not almost any religion 
?emaining." Such a remarkable confession, 
made by the avowed champion of popery, should 
Hot pass unnoticed by protestants ; and before the 
enemies of Protestantism inveigh against the re- 
formation, let them consider its absolute neces- 
sity, and contemplate the innumerable advantages* 
with which it was attended. 

A symbolical representation of the REFORMA- 
TION was exhibited before Charles the Vth, and 
his brother Ferdinand, at Augsburg, in 1530, at 



MO PROTKST.V 



the time when the Luthei their con- 

m of faith t 

, a com i to 

act a t of the 

com; ord< r< d to begin 5 

1 the dress of a doctor, who 
brought a large qiTant ''gh* 

and crooked billets, and laid it on the middi- I 
the hearth and retire d 

■hlin. When this actor went off, an 
entered apparelled also like a doctor, who at- 
tempted to make faggots of the wood, and to fit 
the crooked to ti Jit ; hut having laboured 

long to no purpose, he went away out of humour, 
and shaking I I. On his back a i the 

name of Erasmus. A third dressed kik< 
gustinian monk, came in wit 1 full 

of fire, gathered up the crooked wood, clapped it 
on the fire, and blew it till h it burn, and 

went away ; having upon his frock the 1 
Luther. A four: I like an 

peror, who seeing the crooked wood all on 

ted much co id to put it 

his sword, and poked the fire with it, which only 

it burn the brisker. On his back w 
ten ( the Vih. L d in 

OBtifical habit and triple crown, 
1 lie croo' 
on fire, and ince and attitude 



PROTESTANTS. 141 

traj'ed excessive grief. Then looking about on 
every side to see if he could find any water to 
extinguish the flame, he casts his eyes on two 
bottles in a corner of the room, one of which was 
full of oil, and the other of water, and in his 
hurry he unfortunately seized the oil, and poured 
it on the fire, which unfortunately made it blaze 
so violently, that he was forced to walk off. On 
his back was written Leo the Xth." 

The reader, who is acquainted with the history 
ef the REFORMATION, will perceive the pro- 
priety of the lively representations here given of 
those several characters, who were instrumental 
in bringing about that memorable event. 

Chillingworth, addressing himself to a 
Roman writer, speaks of the religion of Pro- 
testants in the following terms, worthy to be in- 
scribed in letters of gold. — " Know then, Sir, that 
when I say the religion of Protestants is in pru- 
dence to be preferred before your*s j as, on the 
©ne side I do not understand by your religion the 
doctrine of Be liar mine or Baronius y or any other 
private man amongst you, nor the doctrine of the 
Sorbonne, or of the Jesuits, or of the Dominicans, 
or of any other particular company among you, 
but that wherein you all agree, or profess to 
agree, The Doctrine of the Council of Trent ; 
So accordingly on the other side, by the religion 
*f Protestants I do not understand the doctrine 



142 

i ^ 

©f /. :, or I 

conf Ca- 

s of thr 

Church of England — a Harmon* 

I that v. 
all agree, and v. jth a 

• 
action, thai is, THE BIBLE ! r i 
say, I igion 01 

Whatsoever eke thi d the 

plain, irrefragable, indubitable co: 
well may they hold it as a matter of opini 
but i of faith and i ther can 

>berence to their own ground 
it tin y nor requir ^ of it of 

without most high and m, 
sumption. I, for my part, after a long, (and as 
'ily believe and hope) impartial search of the 
true way to eternal happiness, do pr 
that I cannot find any rest for of my foot, 

but upon this ROCK only. I with 

my own eyes, that th 
and councils against councils ; s 
against other fathers, the same 
themselves: a consent of fathers of one 
against a consent of fathers of another a 
ditive int tions of scriptun 

but then or none to be found : no tradi- 

tion but that of the scripture can derive itstlf from 



PROTESTANTS, 143 



the fountain, but may be plainly proved either to 
have been brought in, in such an age after Christy 
or that in such an age it was not in. In a word, 
there is no sufficient certainty but of scripture 
only for any considering man to build upon, 
Thi$j therefore, and this only, I have reason to 
believe. This I will profess ; according to this 
I will live ; and for this, if there be occasion, I 
will not only willingly, but even gladly lose my 
life, though I should be sorry that Christians 
should take it from me. 

" Propose me any thing out of the book, and 
require whether I believe or no, and seem it never 
so incomprehensible to human reason, I will 
subscribe it with hand and heart, as knowing 
no demonstration can be stronger than this, God 
hath said so, therefore it is true* In other 
things I will take no man's liberty of judging 
from him ; neither shall any one take mine from 
me. I will think no man the worse man, nor 
the w r orse Christian ; I will love no man the 
less for differing in opinion from me. And 
what measure I mete to others, I expect from 
them again. I am fully assured that God does 
not, and therefore men ought not, to require any 
more of any man than this— ** To believe the 
scripture to be God's word ; to endeavour t9 
find the true sense of it, and to live according 



144 PROTESTA 



to itr* Chillingwo: >rks, fol. edit 1742. 

It m )pcr to add, that Chillingworth was 

I of the church land, 

and lived in the reign of Charles the First. In 

' ition of the Bibte was made in the time 

and by the appointment of James the First. According' to 

the list of tl»c translators amounted to forty-seven. This 

td m divisions, and several parcels 

of the one of the company was 

to translate tl»e whole pare I fop were to compare 

r, and when any company had fim 
were to communicate it to the other companies, so that no- 
wit hout general consent. The names 
persons an 1 -re they met together, with the portions 

ue to be I 
■ 

i ntered on their work in the 
. 1607, and three y xd before the translation 

wa^ 

Fro". lilityof 1 a of custom?, 

• progress of k i - jeveral passages in the Bible 

require to be newly translated, or to be materially corrected. 

Hence, in the present age, wlien biblical has been 

rti of the sacred volume 
have been hands. 

;oom of i iow in 

common use, has been mu is in- 

argues against it, wtfltf 
Dr. N 1 i, tlie late 

Dr. (: atbolicpen i 

hert V contend strenously for it. Tl)e con 

of«everal passages, howerer, would deprive Deists of many 



PROTESTANTS. 145 



the earlier part of life he embraced the Romish 
religion ; but having found, after the most im- 
partial investigation, that it was false and incon- 
clusive, he returned to the communion of the 
church of England, and vindicated the Protestant 
religion, in a work entitled, The Religion of 
Protestants a Safe Way to Heaven. This work, 
though a folio volume, has gone through many 
editions, and continues to be held in estimation 
even to the present day. 

Before we quit the subject of the REFORMA- 
TION, it may not be improper to add a short ac- 
count of the Lutherans. It has been already 
said, that the Protestants were at first divided 
into the Lutherans, who adhere to Luther's te- 
nets and the Reformed, who follow the doctrine 
and discipline of Geneva. In other w^ords, Lu- 
ther was at the head of one party ; Calvin the 

of their objections, prevent Christians from being misled into 
some absurd opinions, and be the means of making the scrip- 
tures more intelligible, and consequently more beneficial to the 
world. 

Dr. Alexander Geddes, at his decease, had got as far as the 
Psalms in the translation of the Old Testament. Dr. New- 
come and Mr. Wakefield, published entire translations of the 
New Testament, of singular merit and ability. The Rev. Ed- 
mund Butcher, also, of Sidmouth, has laid before the public a 
Family Bible, in which many of the errors of the common trans- 
lation are corrected, and notes added by way of illustration 
whilst the text broken down into daily kssons, is happily adapted 
to the purposes of family devotion. 
M 



146 LUTHERANS 



*h!cf of the other. The tenets of the latter have 
been specified ; those of the former, therefore, 
are the present subject of enquiry. 



LUTHERANS. 

THE Lutherans, of all protestants, are those 
who differ least from the Romish church, as * 
affirm that the body and blood of Christ are ma- 
ierially present in the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper, though in an incomprehensible manner ; 
they likewise represent some religious rites and 
institutions, as the use of images in churches, the 
distinguishing vestments of the clergy, the pri- 
vate confession of gins, the use of wafers in the 
administration of the Lord's Supper, the form of 
exorcism in the celebration of baptism, and other 
ceremonies of the like nature as tolerable, and 
some of them useful. The Lutherans maintain 
with regard to the divine decrees, that they re- 
spect thfc salvation or misery of men, in conse- 
quence of & previous knowledge of their $\ 
ments and characters, and not as founded on the 
<mrre will of God, which is the tenet of the 
Calvinists. Towards the close of the last .cen- 
tury, the Lutherans began to entertain a gn 
liberality of sentiment than they had before adopt- 
ed, though in many places they persevered long- 



LUTHERANS. 147 



er in severe and despotic principles than other 
protestant churfches* Their public teachers now 
enjoy an unbounded liberty of dissenting from 
the decisions of those symbols of creeds, which 
were once deemed almost infallible rules of faith 
and practice, and of declaring their dissent in the 
manner they judge most expedient. Mosheim 
attributes this change in their sentimenls icy the 
maxim which they generally adopted, that Chris- 
tians were accountable to God alone, for their 
religious opinions ; and that no individual could 
be justly punished by the magistrate for his erro- 
neous opinions, while he conducted himself like 
a virtuous and obedient subject and made no at- 
tempts to disturb the peace and order of civil 
society. 

It may be added, that Luther's opinion respect- 
ing the sacrament, is termed Consubstantiation y 
and he supposed that the partakers of the Lord's 
Supper, received along ivith the bread and wine 
the real body and blood of Christ.. This, says 
Dr. Mosheim, in their judgment was a mystery,, 
which they did not pretend to explain. But his 
translator, Dr. Maclaine, justly remarks, " That 
Luther was not so modest as Dr^ Mosheim here 
represents him* He pretended to explain this 
doctrine of the real presence, absurd and contra- 
dictory as it is, and uttered much senseless jargon 
on the subject. As in a red-hot iron> said he^ 



143 r-in 



n and Jire are 

imitt the body of Cl- with the 

eneharisb I mention this n 

comparison, to shew inf tics the 

i betray men 
of deep sense and true g( d&i 

Such is the account given of the LUTHERANS 
in a i :, and it appears to be found- 

ed in truth. I shall only remark, that according 
to the above sketch, Luther differed con- 
front Calvin, respecting election and reprobation, 
and as to the principle, that Christians art 
countable to God alone, for their religious opin- 
ions, it is a sentiment worthy of a great and ele- 
d infant It is the corner stone on which the 
ination has been raised. It is the only true 
foundation of religious improvement, and w 

it is sincerely embraced, will check every 
•ee of uncharitableness and persecutionj and 
forward the blessed reign of love and charity 
amongst the professors of Christianit 

* In Siriffs well known Tj!c of a Tuh, he satirises three 
distinct classes of religious professors — the Church of Rome 
under the appellation of Peter, whose keys for an admission into 
.1 are supposed to be in their possession — the Church of 
the name of Martin, because it: on ori- 

ginated with Martin Luther — and the Dissenters under the 
of /* \ on account of the principles of John Calvin being 
so prevalent amongst them> 



HUGONOTS. 14& 



HUGONOTS. 

THE appellation Bugonots, was given to the 
French Protestants in 1561. The term is (by 
some supposed to be derived from a gate in 
Tours, called Hugon, where they first assem* 
bled. According to others, the name is taker* 
from the first words of their original protest, or 
confession of faith— Hue nos venimus, &c* 
During the reign of Charles the Ninth, and on 
the 24th of August, 1572, happened the mas- 
sacre of Bartholomew, when 70,000 Protes- 
tants throughout France were butchered, with 
circumstances of aggravated cruelty* It began 
at Paris in the night of the festival of Bartholo- 
mew, by secret orders from Charles the Ninth, 
at the instigation of his mother, the Queen 
Dowager Catherine de Medicis. vSee Sully % 
Memoirs, and also a fine description of it in the 
second canto of Voltaire's Henriade. 

In 1598, Henry the Fourth passed the famous 
Edict of Nantz f which secured to his old friends 
the Protestants the free exercise of their religion* 
This edict was cruelly revoked by Lewis the 
Fourteenth. Their churches were then erased to 
the ground ; their persons insulted by the soldiery, 
and; after the loss of innumerable lives. 50,000 
M2 



■D Hl'CONOTS. 



lie ! : of wor- 

of whoi f i in- 

to our language ' of CaBK 

■-, and ti Or. Hunt* r. In 

cons Saurin n 
fine 

'i, by whon 

spirit of Chris — " And 

thou, dreadful princej whom I once honoured as* 

t as a scour^. 
the hand of Almighty God, th 
part in my good v 
thou tl»i •, but which the arm of I 

, this country, which th !i re- 

with lo\ 
walls, which co . *s of thy 

. but whom iiousy, 

all t n th \our. 

God grant t: s the truth 

.11 off ! . t the 

alood \\ d the 

earthj and which thy reign hath caused to be 
God blot out of his boo, 
y and v 
j h( pardon those v. bo i I 



HUG0N0T3. 151 



lis to suffer ! O may God, who hath made thee 
to us, and to the whole world, a minister of his 
judgments, make thee a dispenser of his favours-, 
and administrator of his mercy !" 

About the time of the revolution, 1688, there 
were many controversies between the Protestant 
and the Popish divines. Tillotson and Burnet, 
two clergymen of the church of England, ren- 
dered Protestantism great service by their writ- 
ings ; and were, on that account, elevated to the 
Bench by King William of immortal memory. 
There are also two excellent volumes of Sermons 
against Popery, preached in the early part of 
last century, by various dissenting ministers, at 
Salter's Hall. See also a sermon by the Rev* 
Robert Winter, entitled, u Reflections on the 
present State of Popery." delivered at Salter's 
Hall, November 1800 ; from the perusal of 
which the reader will find much satisfaction* 
Burnet's History of the Reformation, and The 
History of his Own Times y published after his 
death by hk son, are two works which throw 
light on the state of religion in the last and pre- 
ceding centuries among Papists, Churchmen, and 
Dissenters. The merit of these publications^ 
particularly the latter, is judiciously appreciated' 
by Dr. Kippis, under the article Burnet, in the 
Biographic* Britannica* To these may now be 



132 EPT«COPALIAV5. 



^ tar- 
ges, in o, in hit 
ry of li tf* ;<ortunity 
of reprobating the »d of 
ting on its ruin f po- 

an(i U n- 
dency of the Romish religion ; anin with 

spirit on the calumni- ntagonist 

had i ured to t tin character of the 

refoi !. lly, he proves V 

religion bj of the Divine Being, ai 

egards for the rights of mankind, to b. 
only true and primitive Christianity. 



EPISC0PJLL4NS ; 
OR, 

CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 

THE Episcopalians, in the modern accepta- 
tion of the terta, belong more i [|y to the 
Church of England, and dt rive this title from 
Episcopus, the Latin word for bishop ; or, if it 

id to it gin, from Scope 

look, Epi ovt r, implying the care and dilligi 
with which bisho[>s are expected to preside ove* 
those committed to their gui I od direction. 

They insist on the c. gin of their bifth< 



EPISCOPALIANS. I&3 

and other church officers, and on the alliance be- 
tween the church and state. Respecting these 
subjects, however, Warburton and Hoadly, to- 
gether with others of the learned amongst them^ 
have different opinions, as they have also o-n their 
thirty-nine articles ; which were established in 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth. They are to be 
found in most Common Prayer Books ; and the 
Episcopal church in America has reduced their 
number to twenty. By some, these articles are 
made to speak the language of Calvinism, and by 
others have been interpreted in favour of Armin- 
ianism. Even at this time the controversy is agi- 
tated — and the publications of Overton, Kipling, 
and Daubeny, together with the recent Charge of 
the Bishop of Lincoln, may be consulted on the 
subject. The doctrines and discipline of the 
Church of England are nearly connected with the 
reformation of Luther in Germany, and also with 
the state of ecclesiastical affairs for a considerable 
time before that reformation commenced. 

Eusebius possitively asserts, that Christianity 
was first introduced into South Britain by the 
apostles and their disciples ; and it is supposed 
that the apostle Paul visited this country, whose 
zeal, diligence, and fortitude, were abundant. It 
is also said, that numbers of persons professed 
the Christian faith here about the year 150; and 
according to Usher, there was in the year 182, a 



154 WICKLIFFITES AND LOLLARDS. 

school of learning, to provide the British churches 
with proper I On tip t of the first 

introduction of Christianity into this islund, the 
reader is 1 to the I lume of Ht nry's 

history of Great Britain, where hi* curi 
"will be gi citifit d. 

John Wickliffe, educated at Oxford, in the 
reign of Edward the Third, was the first person 
in this country who publicly questioned, and 
boldly refuted the doctrines of Popery. H< 
behind him many followers, who were e 

^Uffites and Lollards ; the latter being a 
term of reproach taken from the Flemsih tongue. 
In the council of Constance, 1415, the memory 
and opinions of Wickliffe (who i 
Lutterworth, 1334,) were conxh 
after his bjnes were dug up and burnt. Thil 
potent rage of hil enemies served only to pro- 
mote the cause of reform which Wickliffe had 
espoused. It is with a view to the rubseq 

nsion of I is doctrine that the judicious Rapia 
-— ' * own into I 

i run> through t I of Lutterworth, the 

brook co i the 

The Cl England broke off from the 

Romish church in the time of Henry the Eighth, 

ady related) Luthtr had 
nation ni Germany. In earlier 



WICKLIFFITES AND LOLLARDS. 155 

"•• • — r 

and during the earlier part of his reign, Henry 
was a bigotted Papist, burnt William Tyndal, who 
made one of the first and best English translations 
of the New Testament, and wrote fircely in de- 
fence of the seven sacraments against Luther, for 
which the Pope honoured him with the title De- 
fender of the f dith 1 This title is retained by 
the kings of England even to the present day, 
though they are the avowed enemies of those 
opinions, by contending for which he acquired that 
honourable distinction. Henry, falling out with 
the Pope, took the government of ecclesiastical 
.affairs into his own hands ; and, having reformed 
many enormous abuses, entitled himself Supreme 
Head of the Church. 

When the reformation in England first took 
place, efforts were made to promote the reading 
of the scriptures among the common people. 
Among other devices for the purpose, the follow- 
ing curious one was adopted. Bonner, Bishop 
of London, caused six Bibles to be chained to cer- 
tain convenient plac^j in St. Paul's church, for 
all that were so well inclined to resort there ; to- 
gether with a certain admonition to the readers, 
•fastened upon the pillars to which the Bibles were 
chained, to this tenor — u That whosoever came 
ihere to read, should prepare himself to be edi- 
fied, and made the better, thereby ; that he bring 
with him discretion, honest intent, charity, rever- 



156 WICKLIPI ! XV LOLLARDS 



rna, mid quk km ; that there should 

vo such number meet together there as to make 
a multitude ; that no -poiition be made 

on but what If; 

that it be not read with noise in I 

p or that an ation or contention be 

1 about it ; that in case they continued th< 
former misbehaviour, and refused to comply with 
these directions, the king would be forced agaii 
bis will to remove the occasion, and take the 
Bible out of the church." See Johnson's H 
torical account of the several English Translations 
of the Bible, and the opposition tl. th 

from th h of Rome. 

The Church of England ii governed by the 
King, who is the supreme bead : by two arch- 
hops, and by twenty4bur bishop ie- 
fices of the bishops were converted by William 
Ihe Conqueror into temporal baronies ; so that 
I seat and vote in the House of 
Dr. Benjamin Hoadley, however, in a 
d from !, my kingdom is 
ha of tliis world, u that the clergy had no 
pretentions to temporal jurisdictions, which ga 

publications, termed by way of 

the Bantgarian Controversy, for Hoad- 

wai then Bishop of Bangor. - * There is a 

• The memory of tlus eminent prelate lias been incited by 



CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 157 

bishop of Sodor and Man, who has no seat in the 
House of Peers ; and a late prelate of this see 
was the amiable and learned Dr. Wilson. Since 
the death of the intolerant Archbishop Laud, men 
of moderate principles have been raised to the see 
of Canterbury, and this hath tended not a little to 
the tranquility of church and state. The estab- 
lished church of Ireland is the same as the 
church of England, and is governed by four arch- 
bishops and eighteen bishops. Since the union 
of Ireland with Great Britain, four only of these 
spiritual Lords sit in the House of Lords, assem- 
bled at Westminster. 

In the course of the last century disputes arose 
among the English clergy respecting the propriety 
of subscribing to any human formulary of religious 
sentiments. An application for its removal was 
made to Parliament in 1772, by the petition* 
ing clergy, and received, as it deserved, the most 
public discussion in the House of Commons. The 
third edition of Archdeacon Blackburn's excellent 
Confessional, was published 1770, two years pre- 
vious to the presentation of this clerical petition, 
when the long controversy in consequence of the 
work, was closed, and indeed introductory to the 
application to Parliament pending, by which the 

Mr. Milner in liis History of Winchester, but Mr. Hoadley, Ashe 
and Dr. S targes have amply vindicated it. 
N 



Iflt iURCH OF ENGLAND* 

■ — ** . — *^ m *^ ,m » 

controversy was renewed. Mr, Dyer's Trc 

agaimt i-utvcription, appeared many years after- 
wards. Some respect&M oim- 
■ed with the impropriety of subscription, that 
they resigned their livings, and pubh ?ons 
for their conduct. Among these, the names of 
Robertson, J ebb, Matty, Lindsey, and Disney, 
will be long remembered. Several Others, in- 
deed, resigned preferment* held by the same tenure 
for similar reasons, without giving such reasons 
to the public, as Mr. Tyrwhitt, Mr. Wakefield, 
&c. and it has been said that many more reluc- 
tantly continue In their conformity, under the 
contest between their convictions and their ina- 
bility from various causes to extricate tin . 
but who will never repeat their subscriptions. 
The Rev. T. Lindsey, however, withdrew from 
the church, because he objected to the trinity ; 
professing to worship the Father onI\ true 
God, to the exclusion of Jesus Christ and of the 
Holy Spirit, as objects of worship. See " The 
Boole of Common Prayer Rrfornv 1 at 
; a new edition of which has 
ished. 
Attempts have been made to amend the articles, 
the liturgy, and some things which related to the 
' nal government of the church of England* 
Watson, the present Bishop of LandarT, wrote 
a Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, ii> 



CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 169 

the year 1781, in which he argues for the pro- 
priety of a more equal distribution of salary 
among the different orders of the clergy. But 
this plan, projected by the worthy prelate, tor 
gether with the preceding proposals for reform by 
the authors of the Free and Candid Disquisi- 
tions, and of the Appeal to Reason and Candor, 
have been suffered to sink into oblivion. The 
church of England has produced a succession of 
eminent men. Among its ornaments are to be 
reckoned Usher, Hall, Taylor, Stilling fle et, 
Cudworth, Wilkins, Tilloison, Cumberland, Bar- 
row, Burnet, Pearson, Hammond, Whitby, Clark, 
Hoadley, Jortin, Seeker, Home, Lowth, and War- 
burton. In the Appendix to Mosheiiri's Ecclesi- 
astical History, will be found a circumstantial 
account of the correspondence carried on in the 
year 1718, between Dr. Wm. Wake, Archbishop 
of Canterbury, and certain*' doctors of the Sor- 
bonne, of Paris, relative to a project of union be- 
tween the English and Gallican churches. Hook- 
er's Ecclesiastical Polity — Pearson on the Creed, 
Burnet on the Thirty-nine Articles, and Bishop 
Prettyman's Elements of Theology,* are deem- 
ed the best defences of Episcopacy. 

In Scotland, and other parts, since the revolu- 



* Mr. William Frend, the celebrated mathematician, late c£ 
Cambridge, published a series of letters to this prelate by wa^ 
ot reply to certain passages in his Elements of Theology, 



MO cnimcn of England. 

■ ■ ' - ■ ' . « .^— 

lion, there existed a ( palians called 

jurors, bee;. Dg inflexibly attached to 

then driven from the 

throne, tht v of allegiance 

to the Brunswick family. On the cl how- 

p of the Pretender, whom the Non-jurors 

I Prince Charles, and who died at Rome, 
1788, they complied with the requisition of gov- 

entj and now tlie distinction is abolished. 
A.11 account of them will be found in Bishop 

irr's Ecclesiastical History. 
The reformation in England, began under the 
auspices of II ■ Eighth, was g: beck- 

ed bj I like a female fury 

to re-establish Popery. In her sanguinary reign 
were burnt one archbishop, four bishops, twenty- 
one divines, eight gentlemen, one hundred and 
eighty-four artificers, and one hundred husband- 
1, servants, and labourer* ; t 
nty widows, and nine virgins, two boys, and 
two infant* ! ! ! On the death of Mary, 1558, 
Elizabeth as< the throiv ..led the 

h had 1 iblished in favour of Po; 

and :. I her supremacy. In these ma 1 

she wonderfully succeeded, since of 9,400 bene- 

: clergymen, about 120 only refused to com- 

.ith the reformation. The establkmant of 
n in England underwent various fluc- 
tuatio the glorious revolution under ^ 



CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 161 

Ham, in 1688, placed it on a firm and permanent 
foundation. The family of the Stuarts were bit- 
ter enemies to the civil and religious liberties of 
their subjects, and violently attached to Popery, 
Dr. Goldsmith tells us, in his history of England, 
that James the Second, in endeavouring to con- 
vert his subjects to the Popish religion, descended 
so low as Colonel Kirke. But that daring and 
unprincipied soldier assured his majesty that he 
was pre-engaged, for that if ever he did change 
his religion, he had promised the Emperor of Mo- 
rocco when quartered at Tangier, to turn Ma- 
hometan ! 

Mr. Gisborne, in his excellent Familiar Sur- 
vey of the Christian Religion, has the following 
remarks on church government : — €€ In every N 
community or body of men, civil or ecclesiasti- 
cal, some species of government is requisite for 
the goodof the whole. Otherwise all is irregu- 
larity, and interminable confusion* How then 
in any particular country is the Christian church 
to be governed ?" €€ Every separate congrega- 
tion," answers the independent, <( is a sovereign 
church amenable to no extrinsic jurisdiction, and 
entitled to no jurisdiction over other churches." 
u That mode of government," replies the Pres- 
byterian, u is calculated to destroy union, co-ope- 
ration, and concord among Christians. All con- 
gregations within the same^ which agree in dec- 
N2 



162 crimen or 



trine, o 

y coni] 
of th I rc- 

| 

, and is perpeti 
open to tumult and par v>n. Di- 

al a 
it authority, 
and r g it. 

Sue!) lie government of the church 

•• - the go. 

Cicceedlng age.-.*' €€ A* 

ist, u with t /Me di 

Pope, the successor of St. 

ght the only .source of ecclesiastical 

the universal monarch of the unh • 

all to Protestant?, I may pass by 

: of tht or of St. Peter. But the 

Is of the Epis in are of prime 

If Christ or his apostles enjoined 

•tion of Episcopacy, the question 

Did Christ then or his apostles de- 

iy such an injunction ? 

controverted. The 

t — that our Saviour did not 

a the subject ; that the apo 

( i j d strict; 
; that di :amc flu* 



DISSENTERS, 163 



merouSj and thus clearly evinced their judgment 
as to the form of ecclesiastical government, most 
advantageous at least in those days to Christian- 
ity ; but that they left no command, which ren- 
dered Episcopacy universally indispensible in fu- 
ture times, if other forms should evidently pro- 
mise, through local opinions and circumstances^ 
greater benefit to religion. Such is the general 
sentiment of the present church of England on 
the subject," Bishop Prettyman has expressed 
himself much after the same manner in his Ele- 
ments of Theology.* 



DISSENTERS. 

Dissenters from the church of England made 
their first appearance in Queen Elizabeth's time^ 
when, on account of the extraordinary purity 
which they proposed in religious worship and 
conduct, they were reproached with the name of 
Puritans. They were greatly increased by the 
act of uniformity, which took place on Barthol- 
omew-day, 1662, in the reign of Charles the 

* As the established church in Ireland is the same with that 
©f England — so are also the Dissenters of much the same com- 
plection. The Papists, indeed, are very numerous there — as: 
are likewise the Presbyterians in the North of Ireland. Aber- 
aaethy, who wrote on the Attributes of God, and Duchal, who 
wrote on the Internal- Evidences of Christianity weje ministers 
©f eminence amoves t them* 



PI-TV: 



ucl. By Ihii act 2,000 obli- 

to quit tl: , g to con- 

form to 

•alii d nformists. An ii. 

count of tl 

good mm, is to be found in Palmer's 

jonformist's Memorial, of which work there 

.1 iK\v and improved edition, lately publish' 

three volumes* Their d< known by 

the name of Protestant I md rank un- 

nominations of I 
byterianSj Independents, and Baptists. 

Of the origin and progress* of the Di 
a full account is contained in Neat's History of 

roved edition of w 
work ha by Dr. Tculmin, of 

Taunton, who has accompanied it with not* 
which are obviated the objections which ; 
been made to it by Grey, Maddox, Warburton, 
and others* Here the historian u p by 

^Terences which originally occasion- 

* I? is rMr.;irka!)lr, tint I i is taken in Ihi 

was t a nd therefore deser. 

r it only for his mi;:\ 
r. Hut I 
iccuses Ncal of not hav* i that 

k with impartiality. 



DISSENTERS. 165 



ed the separation, and an affecting narrative is 
given of the sufferings which our forefathers were 
doomed to undergo in the cause of religious liber- 
ty, A brief history of the Puritans also was 
published in 1772, of which the author, the Rev, 
J. Cornish, has given an enlarged and pleasing 
edition. The principles on which the Dissenters 
separate from the church of England are much 
the same with those on which she separates her 
self from the church of Rome. They may be 
summarily comprehended in these three ; 1. The 
right of private judgment. 2. Liberty of Con- 
science. And 3. The perfection of scripture as 
a Christian's only rule of faith and practice. 

The late pious and learned Dr. Taylor, of 
Norwich, thus expressed himself concerning the 
principles and worship of the Dissenters— iC The 
principles and worship of Dissenters are not 
formed upon such slight foundation as the un- 
learned and thoughtless may imagine. They 
were thoroughly considered and judiciously re- 
duced to the standard of scripture and the writ- 
ings of antiquity, by a great number of men of 
learning and integrity. I mean the Bartholo- 
mew divines, or the ministers ejected in the year 
1662, men prepared to lose all, and to suffer 
martyrdom itself, and who actually resigned their 
livings (which with most of them were, under 
Godj all that they and their families had to sub- 



160 TERS. 



i upon) rather than sin 
the cau?c of civil and religious liberty, which to- 
il <uious religion would, I am \> 
HJftdedj have sunk to I very low ebb in the na- 
• not been for the bold and noble stand 
these wort' le against imposition upon con- 

Science^prophaneoeM, and arbitrary They 

had the bc.-t education England could afford, m 
of them were excellent scholars, judicious di- 
Vinetj pious, faithful, and 'laborious n , of 

gi\ for God and religion, unds tnd 

courageous in their 
to theii vorst of tim I in 

id, affectionate, pow 
ing pr Ivancement of r< 

vital religion in the hearts and lives of men, which 
it cannot Le denied, flourished greatly 
th< j y could influence. Part: re men 

of great devoti ninent in pray 

uttering as God enabled them from the abun- 
dance of the ir hearts and affect. ine 
eloquence in pleading at the throne of gra« 

ing and melting the affections of th« 
and being happily instrumental in ti tg into 

their souls the same spirit and h< Lnd 

this was the ground of all their ot lalifica- 

tions, they ceellent men, it, 

instant, and fervent in prayer. Such were the 
father* and^/ir rs of the Dissenting 



DISSENTERS. 165 



terest. Let my soul be for ever ivith the souls 
of these men." 

The Test Jet excludes Dissenters from filling 
public offices, -except they take the sacrament at 
the established church, which some think cannot 
be consistently done by any conscientious Dis- 
senter. Hence loud complaints have been raised 
respecting this exclusion, since, as members of 
the civil community, they are entitled to all the 
common privileges of that community. The 
Test Jet was originally levelled against the 
Roinan Catholics. The Dissenters have made 
several unsuccessful applications for its repeal. 
The question was warmly agitated in the House of 
Commons, 1787, and on each side numerous 
publications issued from the press. The chief 
argument urged for the continuance of the Test 
Act is the safety of the established church. The 
principal arguments alledged for its repeal are, 
that it is a prostitution of the Lord's Supper, and 
that to xvithold civil rights on account of religious 
opiiiions, is a species of persecution. 

The Dissenters, as a body, have not been un- 
fruitful of great and learned men. Among their 
ornaments are to be ranked Baxter, Bates, Howe, 
Owen, Williams, Neal, Henry, Stennet, Evans, 
Gale, Foster, Leland, Grosvenor, Watts, Lard- 
ner, Abernethy, Doddridge, Grove, Chandler, 
Gill, Orton, Fumeaux^ Farmer, Towgood, Rob* 






C0TLAN1 

Though (as enemi< 

* is not g rtftifl 

iiong 

a conclave of cardin., — beach of bishops — or 
a board of it:' e in its fullest 

pride and pleasure of the human mind. In 
PUrctV l' indication of the Dissenters, Tow 
good's Letters to White, and Pali rotcstant 

Diss vi, arc the grounds 

upon which their dissent from the estabi. 
church is founded. 



A7i?A' OF SCOTLAND. 

TH of the Kirk of Scotland are 

peaking, the only Presbyterian- 

Their mode of t gov- 

erns brought thither from B by 

John rated Scotch reformer 

tie of Scotland, for 
that Luther \. 
o/G 

Cc to the Episcopalians, the Pr< 

ul0 I 



KIRK OF SCOTLAND. 169 

ed by Presbyteries, Synods, arid general Assem- 
blies. The title Presbyterian conies from the 
Greek word Presbuteros y which signifies senior 
or elder. In the Kirk of Scotland there are iif- 
teen synods and sixty-nine presbyteries. Theii 
articles are Calvinistic, and their general assembly 
is held annually in the month of May at Edin- 
burgh. Dreadful scenes took place in Scotland 
previous to the establishment of Presbyterianism 
!n its present form at the revolution, and its con- 
firmation in 1 706, by the act of union between 
the two kingdoms. During the commonwealth, 
Presbyterianism was the establised religion, but 
on the restoration Episcopacy was introduced in 
its room. So averse, however, were the Scotch 
to the Episcopalians, and so harsh were the mea- 
sures of the Episcopalian party, that the whole 
country was thrown into confusion. Leighton, 
the most pious and moderate prelate amongst 
them, disgusted with the procedings of his breth- 
ren, resigned his bishopric, and toid the king, 
<c He would not have a hand in such oppressive 
measures, were he sure to plant the Christian re- 
ligion in an infidel country by them ; much less 
when they tended only to alter the form of church 
government." On the other hand, Sharp, Arch- 
bishop of St. Andrews, adopted violent measures, 
which terminated in his death. For in 1679, nine 
ruffians stopped his coach near St. Andrew's, 
o 



< 



170 



H 



with 
thirty-two wounds. On thr mom:: thi« 

unfortun ne of t!u clmrches of St. 

Andn \\ '.*, I 

It WW in these troubled tin 

\ up their famou* and 

nanty w 

tirpation of i The S< 

church, how- 

in sentiment and liberality, and some of I 
cler^ t In th< 

of literature. Rof flrnry, man. 

Blacklock, Gerard, r, and Hun- 

ter, all recently deceased, are among its prim 

ntled 
the Scotch Preacher, will be found a 

men of the pulpit compositions of the Scotch 
clerg 



SECEDERS. 



DISSENTERS from the Kirk or Church 
Scotland, call tl • for a 

iter comes from th< 
, to differ, at ion S( 

fived fro? *cedo, to separate 

or to witl '•om am • hich 






SECEDERS. 171 

we may haw been united. The Seceders are ri- 
gid Calvinists, rather austere in their manners^ 
and in their discipline. Through a difference as 
to civil matters they are broken down into Bur- 
ghers and Anti-burghers. Of these two classes 
the latter are the most confined in their senti- 
ments, and associate therefore the least with any 
other body of Christians. The Seceders origi- 
nated under two brothers, Ralph and Ebenezer 
Erskine, about the year 1730. It is worthy of 
observation, that the Rev. George Whitfield, in 
one of his visits to Scotland, was solemnly re- 
probated by the Seceders, because he refused to 
confine his itinerant labours wholly to them. The 
reason assigned for this monopolization was, that 
they were exclusively God's people ! Mr. 
Whitfield smartly replied, that they had there- 
fore the less need of his services, for his aim was 
to turn sinners from the error and wickedness of 
their ways by preaching among them, glad tidings 
©f great joy ! 

There is also a species of Dissenters from the 
church of Scotland called Relief, whose only dif- 
ference from the Kirk is, the choosing of their 
own pastors. They are respectable as to num- 
bers and ability. 

The reformation in Scotland, like that in Eng- 
land and Germany, struggled with a long series 
of opposition, and was at length gloriously tri- 



' 



172 



umpbant. \)r. Gilbert Stewart, thei lose* 

'listory of the Reformation Jain 

I following a 
" From tl. of our j 

with misfortune. T m irfalok led | 

ligioilj while they excite under one aspect 

ports of joy, create in another a 

mournful sentiment of sj and coi 

Amidst the felicities which were obtained, and 

which were won, we deplore the mel- 

oly ravages of the passions, and w 

magnificence. But while the 
contentions and the ferments of n n in 

the road to improvements and nee, are 

destined to be polluted with i and 

blood ; a tribute of the highest panegyric and 
t is yet justly to be paid to the actors in the 
reformation. They gav< i the moven 

liberal and a resolute spirit. They taught 

the rulers of nations that the obedience of the 

kid of justice, and that nun nfiMtf 

be governed by their opinions and their reason. 

J great and con- 
Loittj which at the B&me time 
raken admiration, are an example to 
and animate virtue in the hour of trial and 
I. The existence of civil liberty was d< 
ted with the d tor which tl j 






SECEDERS. 17$ 



tended and fought. While they treated with 
scorn an abject and cruel superstition, and lifted 
and sublimed the dignity of man, by calling his 
attention to a simpler and a wiser theology, they 
were strenuous to give a permanent security to 
the political constitution of their state. The 
happiest and the best interests of society were the 
objects for which they buckled on their armour, 
and to wish and to act for their duration and sta- 
bility, are perhaps the most important employ- 
ments of patriotism and public affection. The 
reformation may suffer fluctuation in its forms, 
but, for the good and the prosperity of mankind^ 
it is to be hoped that it is never to yield and to 
submit to the errors and the superstition it over- 
whelmed." 

Having mentioned that the church of Scotland 
is composed of a General Assembly — Synods and 
Presbyteries — to these must be added the Kirk 
Sessions — made up of the Pastor, Ruling Elders^ 
and Deacons ; though the business of the last is- 
to attend to the temporalities of the churchr Nor 
ought it to be forgotten that both classes of th£ 
Seceders and the Relief Body, including about 
three hundred ministers are strict Presbyterians^ 
notwithstanding their secession, or dissent from 
the Scotch Establishment. 



02 



i 



NS. 
I 

irch go^ .n to 

; v this 

• 
! , but it I ;• no- 

nl should t'i 

, which is the 

g attached to Cal I con 

iter latitude of religiom 
' i • 
Dr, 1 I his Le< I 

[) fur- 

►n. " T 

own 

■ 



1 



INDEPENDENTS. 1 75 



terian discipline is exercised by synods and as- 
semblies, subordinate to each other, and all of 
them subject to the authority of what is common- 
ly called a General Assembly." This mode of 
church government is to be found in Scotland, 
and has been already detailed under a former ar 
tide in this work. 



INDEPENDENTS. 

THE Independents or Ccngregaizonalists, 
deny not only the subordination of the clergy, but 
also all dependency on other assemblies. Every 
congregation (say they) has in itself what is ne- 
cessary for its own government, and is not sub- 
ject to other churches or to their deputies. Thus 
this independency of one church with respect to 
another has given rise to the appellation Inde- 
pendents ; though this mode of church govern- 
ment is adopted by the Dissenters in general. 
The Independents have been improperly con- 
founded with the Brownisis, for though they 
may have originally sprung from them, they ex- 
cel them in the moderation of their sentiments, 
and in the order of their discipline. The first 
Independent or Congregational Church in Eng- 
land was established by a Mr. Jacob, in the year 



• 



BR(> JEDOBAPTI5TS. 

Mr. R 



BRO WN1 
THE Hro-^ n just r.. 

in of the church of England, who I 
it 1600. Hi {bed agi 

lie of the church* separated him- 

iVoin her communion, and afterwards return- 
ed into her bosom, lie appears to liavt 

ed man, of violent passions. He died in 
thampton goal, 1630, after boasting th = 

dtted to thirty-two pria -omc 

of which he could not see his ban 



I .EDOEAPT1STS. 

BEFORE we proceed to the Baptists, it 

remark, that all persons who 

bapt. cZ'dubaptists, 

word, Pais, whi( 

ifanty and Bapto to Of course the 

Established Church, the Pi ians both m 

land and England, together with the Inde. 

i are all Pcedobaptisti ; 

*>f infants or children. Their reasons for this; 



PiEDOBAPTISTS. 1 77 

practice are to be found in Wall, Towgood, Ad- 
dington, Williams, Horsey, and others, who have 
expressly written on the subject with learning and 
ingenuity. They rest their arguments principally 
on the following circumstances : — That baptism 
has succeeded instead of the rite of circumcision ; 
that households, probably (say they) including 
children, were baptized ; that Jesus shewed an 
affectionate regard for children ; and finally, that 
it is the means of impressing the minds of parents 
with a sense of the duties which they owe their 
offspring, upon the right discharge of which de- 
pend the welfare and happiness of the rising gen- 
eration. Persons, therefore, engage themselves 
as sponsors in the Established Church, who pro- 
mise that they will take care of the morals of the 
children ; among other sects the parents are made 
answerable, who indeed are the most proper per- 
sons to undertake the arduous task, and to see it 
duly accomplished. Dr. Priestly has just publish- 
ed a Letter to an Antipcedobaptist, in which 
he endeavours to prove the Baptism of Infants, 
from the testimony of the Fathers, which the Rev. 
Job David, of Taunton, has, in a small pamphlet, 
very fully answered. These preliminary remarks 
were necessary to render a sketch of the Baptists 
the more intelligible. W0 shall therefore proceed 
to that denomination, 



? 



1*8 









TH 

Th< y conU ud that 

'1, though not t 
church of England. They also a 

II adn • • It • 

• 

me of \ ] , however, 

• 
whether iofi 

I be adm 
profession of our o: i, or on that <>; 

■d to Bi 
Hoadlcy, by t 

ind into I 

:i of th 

• r • 



BAPTISTS. 1 7i> 



been thus baptized. This has given rise to some 
little controversy on the subject. Mr. Killing- 
worth and Mr. Abraham Booth have written 
against free communion, but John Bunyan, Dr. 
James Foster, Mr. Charles Bulkeley, Mr. John 
Wiche, for many years a respectable General 
Baptist minister, at Maidstone, and Mr. Robin- 
son, of Cambridge, have contended for it. It is 
to be regretted that such disputes should ever have 
arisen, since they have contributed in no small 
degree to injure the repose, and retard the pros- 
perity of the Christian Church. An excellent 
Address to the Opposers of free Communion , 
written by the late venerable Micajah Towgood, 
will be found at the end of his Life, by Mr. 
James Manning, weli worth attention. 

The General Baptists have, in some of their 
churches, three distinct orders separately ordained 
— Messengers, Elders, and Deacons ; and their 
General Assembly (when a minister preaches, and 
the affairs of the church are taken into con- 
sideration) is held annually in Worship-street, 
London, on the Tuesday in the Whitsun Week ; 
it used to be on the Wednesday, but is changed 
for the convenience of ministers who attend it 
from the country. They have thus met together 
for upwards of a century. Dr. John Gale, a 
learned General Baptist, had a famous controversy 
in the beginning of the last century, with Dr. Wall, 



\ 



180 ADULT BAPTI.-M. 






who defended the practice of baptizing in! 

more recent controversy on 
Booth, and 
Dr. Williams. 1 tnabaptist, which 

comes from two 

baptize, is sometimes applied to this denomina- 
tion of Christians. But this is an unjust at* 
tion brought against them by their adversaries, 
and being deemed a term of reproach, ought to 
be wholly laid aside. The late Mr. Robinson 
published a very valuable work, entitled Th r 
torxj of Baptism. 



ADULT BAPTISM, 



THE administration of baptism to adult, 
mmersion, has been the subject of so much ridi- 
cule and misrepresentation, that an account of it, 
taken from Mr. Robinson's History of Baptism, 
shall be inserted for the information of the serious 
ider. a The English, and most foreign Bap- 
is, consider a personal profession of faith, and 
an immersion in water, essential to baptism. The 
profession of faith is generally made before the 
church at a church meeting. Some have a creed, 
id expect the candidate to assent to it, and to 
give a circumstantial account of his conversion. 
Others only require a person to profess himself a 



ADULT BAPTISM. 181 

Christian. The former generally consider bap- 
tism as an ordinance, which initiates persons into 
a particular church ; and they say, without breach 
of Christian liberty, they have a right to expect 
an agreement in articles of faith in their own so- 
cieties. The latter only think baptism initiates 
into a profession of the Christian religion in gener- 
al, and therefore say they have no right to re- 
quire an assent to our creed of such as do not 
purpose to join our churches. They quote the 
baptism of the Eunuch, in the 8 th of Acts, in 
proof. There are some who have no public faith, 
and who both administer baptism and admit to 
church membership any who profess themselves 
Christians. They administer baptism in their 
own baptisteries, and in public waters." 

" Not many years ago, at Whittlesford, seven 
miles from Cambridge, forty-eight persons were 
baptized in that ford of the river from which the 
village takes its name. At ten o'clock of a very 
fine morning in May, about 1500 people of dif- 
ferent ranks assembled together. At half past ten 
in the forenoon, the late Dr. Andrew Gifford, 
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Sublibra- 
rian of the British Museum, and teacher of a 
Baptist congregation in Eagle-Street, London, 
ascended a moveable pulpit in a large open court- 
yard, near the river, and adjoining to the house 
of the Lord of the manor* Round him stood the 
P 



i 



182 Aiv 

congregation ; people on in corn 

ami 

other person! f the h 

ashy being open, all were uiu 
there was ■ profound 

out i hymn, which the congrc nng. 

i he pray* d. P aded, be took 

N< w Testanw nt, and n ad this text — I indeed bap- 
tize you with water unto repentance* !!• 
served, that the force of the preposition had 
lotice of the trai I the 

true reading was — I indeed baptize or dip you in 
water at or upon repentance ; which sense he 
confirmed by tl of the 12th 

Matthew, and other passage poke 

tost Baptists do on these oc» 
ing the nature, subject, mod this 

ordinance. He closed, by contrasting the doc- 
trine of infant sprinkling with that of belie 
baptism, which being a part of 
ence, was supported by divine pron D the 

^ccompl^hment of which, all good men might 

nd. An -.on, he read another 1. 

and , and then came down. Then the 

candidates for baptism n to prepare them 

" About half an hour after, the ad ttor, 

talified for tl 






ADULT BAPTISM. 183 

gown of fine baize, without a hat, with a small 
New Testament in his hand, came down to the 
river side, accompanied by several Baptist minis- 
ters and deacons of their churches, and the 
persons to be baptized. The men came first, two 
and two, without hats, and dressed as usual, ex 
rept that instead of coats, each had on a long 
white baize gown, tied round the waist with a 
sash. Such as had no hair, wore white cotton 
or linen caps. The women followed the men, 
two and two, all dressed neat r clean, and plain, 
and their gowns white linen or dimity. It was 
said, the garments had knobs of lead at bottom 
to make them sink- Each had a long light silk 
cloak hanging loosely over her shoulder, a broad 
ribbon tied over her gown- beneath the breast, 
and a hat on her head. They all ranged them- 
selves around the administrator at the water side. 
A great number of spectators stood on the banks 
of the river on both sides ; some had climed and 
sat on the trees, many set on horseback and in 
carriages, and all behaved with a decent serious- 
ness, which did honour to the good sense and the 
good manners of the assembly, as well as to the 
free constitution of this country. First, the ad- 
ministrator read an hymn, which the people 
sung. Then he read that portion of scripture 
which is read in the Greek church on the same 
occasion, the history of the baptism of the Eu* 



lUlg at 

1 the Jytii. 

- 
j 

id of 
s the d 

put his right hand bet* 

iiig into it a little of the 
:: for hol I he 

ted mid< - id the man put- 

log his two thumb* into that hand, h< 

ther, by closing his hand. Then he de] 

lj / baptize thec in 1 1 0/ t/ie Fa- 

, a/ici of the Son y and of the Holy Gko*t ; 
and while he uttered tin uding wide, 

lie g aned him backward, and dipped him 

As soon him, a person in 

a boat fastened there fur the purpose, took 
of t!. hand., wiped his face with a 

nin, ai him a U tt< nd- 

iiis arm, ; with him to 

< , and assist* d him to dn Th- 

ug, who lik< . :imi- 

during the whok 
followed the first, and \ 



ADULT BAPTISM. 185 

baptized in like manner. After them the women 
were baptized. A female friend took off at the 
water side the hat and cloak. A deacon of the 
church led one to the administrator, and another 
from him ; and a woman at the water side took 
each as she came out of the river, and conducted 
her to the apartment in the house, where they 
dressed themselves.- When all were baptized, 
The administrator coming up out of the river, and 
standing at the side, gave a short exhortation on 
the honour and the pleasure of obedience to di- 
vine commands, and then with the usual bene- 
diction dismissed the assembly. About half an 
hour after, the men newly baptized, having dress- 
ed themselves, went from their room into a large - 
hall in the house, where they were presently join- 
ed by the women, who came from their apart- 
ments to the same place. Then they sent a mes- 
senger to the administrator, who was dressing in 
his apartment, to inform him they waited for him, 
He presently came, and first prayed for a few 
minutes, and then closed the whole by a short dis- 
course on the blessings of civil and religious liber- 
ty, the sufficiency of scripture, the pleasures of a 
good conscience, the importance of a holy life, and 
the prospect of a blessed immortality. This they 
call a public baptism." 



P& 



[)l 



8 



or in tl; 

. ty ibttn conduct- 

tun , 
and topi It is, I 

it the rit< 
I with equal tw 

The pn tppellation 01 

zu adu: 
, 
. 

ng the validity of infant baptism. An acci 
le manner in which infant baptism is admin- 
should ha 
I known , both in the 

T tions of Protestant Dis- 

■ minaru s of their own, v. 

! foi ll tian ministry 

. ng the P 



DISSENTING ACADEMIES. Ig7 

reckoned the academies at Manchester, and Caer- 
uiarthen, in South Wales ; besides six exhibitions 
granted by Dr. Daniel Wiflfems, to English Pres- 
byterian students to be educated at Glasgow, 
Among the independents are to be mentioned the 
academies at Wymondley House near Hltchro, 
Homerton, Wrexham, and Hoxton. The acade- 
my at Wymondley House was originally under 
the care of Dr. Philip Doddridge at Northampton 
— upon his decease it was consigned over to Dr. 
Ashworth, at Daventry ; but was afterwards re- 
moved to Northampton, where the Rev. John 
Horsey superintended it for many years in a man- 
ner which did credit to his talents and piety. 
There is also an academy of Lady Huntingdon'^ 
formerly at Treveeka, now at Cheshnnf. The 
Baptists have two exhibitions for students to be 
educated at one of the universities in Scotland, 
given them by Dr. Ward, of Gresham College, 
the author of The System of Oratory * There 



* As the author of this little work stands indebted to the Ex- 
hibition, of Dr. John Wardy he wishes to pay a grateful tribute 
of respect to his memory. He was the son of a Dissenting 
minister, and born about 1679, in London. He kept an acad- 
emy for many years in Tenter-Alley, Moorfielck. In 1720, he 
was chosen, professor for Rhetoric in Gresham College, where his- 
System of Oratory was deliyereJ. In 1723, during the Presi- 
dency of Sir Isaac Newton, lie was elected Fellow of Hie Royal 



D: nGACAI 



b\ the More of Til 

which the ! 
eral. Rev. Hugh 

(Led 

\ution, though i | 

• .. i 

hoped will meet with due eiuoe: 
j could for ?, a 

Foster, a. Burr,, oot, a fl nd a 

/. A I 
tioii for a ri snectable Christian D 
Kippi of Dr. Dot i the 

. >n of hii Family Expositor, 
found an account oi 

for nuji >ng the 

Mr. Palmer, in his Nonconformist's Memorial 
Wing of Dr. Dunn 1 Williai 
the bulk of to charit 

iient in their nature as the}' us in 

their kind -, and a* much calculated tor t 



• : and in one of it 

J\im College, l : of hK 

age. He publisht 1 many I 

.« v/ him, I nvbk vfic umKil i 



V 



DISSENTING LIBRARY. 189 

of God, and the good of mankind, as any that 
have ever been known. He left his library for 
public use, and ordered a convenient place to be 
purchased or erected, in which the books might 
be properly disposed of, and left an annuity for a 
librarian. A commodious house was accordingly 
erected in Redoross-strect, Cripplegate, where 
his collection of books is not only properly preser- 
ed, but has been gradually receiving large addi- 
tions. This is also the place in which the body 
of the dissenting ministers meet to transact their 
business, and is a kind of repository for paintings 
of Nonconformist ministers, for MSS. and other 
matters of curiosity and utility." The building it- 
self belongs to the Presbyterians, but it is by the 
trustees handsomely devoted to the use of the dis- 
senters in general. The library, since its original 
endowment, has been augmented by the donations 
of liberal minded persons, and its increase depends 
upon their zeal ; no part of the founder's estate 
being appropriated for the purpose. Were every 
dissenting author to send thither a copy of his pub- 
lications (a measure that has been recommended 
and ought to be adopted) the collection would soon 
receive a considerable augmentation, and of course 
increase not only in extent but also in respectabil- 
ity. A second edition of the catalogue, in one 
volume, octavo, has been lately published, with 



I PO 

with the rul- 

V g e> 

rounded by Dr. Tl 

of L tt re I 

• their affairs, and It 

library, and ample endowment?. The 
build repaired, has the ap- 

jnce of great 

TO the foregoing systematical distribution 
inination<, shall be added a I 
. 
under any of the */: ..eraldiv: . liicb 

have been adopted. 



QUAKERS. 

IE Quakers api a Engia.'. 

50. Thi 

their o\\ ; — " Ti ing of t 

own to I 
• 
ij pious persons had been 
gettlement of the Church of England hi ti. 



aiTAKERS. 191 



of Queen Elizabeth. Various societies of Dissent- 
ers had accordingly arisen ; some of whom evinc- 
ed their sincerity by grievous sufferings under 
the intolerance of those who governed church af- 
fairs.* But these societies, notwithstanding their 
honest zeal, seemed to have stopped short in their 
progress towards a complete reformation ;f and, 
degenerating into formality, to have left their most 
enlightened members still to lament the want of 
something more instructive and consolatory to the 
soul, than the most rigorous observance of their 
ordinances had ever produced. Thus dissatisfied 
and disconsolate, they were ready to follow any 
teacher who seemed able to direct them to that 
light and peace of which they felt the need. 
Klany such in succession engaged their attention ; 
until finding the insufficiency of them all, they 
withdrew from the communion of every visible 
church, and dwelt retired, and attentive to the in- 
ward state of their own minds : often deeply dis- 
tressed for the want of that true knowledge of 
God, which they saw to be necessary for salva- 
tion, and for which, according to their ability, 
they fervently prayed. These sincere breathings 
of spirit being answered by the extension of som€ 
degree of heavenly consolation, they became con- 



* Sewell, p. 5, 6. Ed, 1722. + Venn, voK 5. p. 211, 212, 

Ed. 1782. 



HI . 



th, o that ol 

v 

I help, til 

t they 
the world, which 

the effect of the un l will of 

man, and inconsistent with the g- 

of the truth. 

vas one of the first of our fri< 
who were imprisoned. II- wa« confine 
tingham in I i ing pul 

opposed a preacher, who had . that the 

more sure word of proph 

19, was the Scripture ; George Fox declaring 

Holy Spirit ; and in the follov 

r, being brought before two justices in Derby - 

, one of them, scoffing at G. Fox, for having 

bidden him, and those about him, tn t the 

word of the Lord, gave t i the 

name of Quakers ;f J an a: Q which soon 

* Hesse's Sufferings of the People c 5, and 

•m. 



aUAKERS. 103 



became and hath remained our most usual de- 
nomination ; but they themselves adopted, and 
have transmitted to us the endearing appellation 
of Friends."* 

It is difficult to give a specific statement of 
their tenets ; but they may be found in a well- 
written Apology by Robert Barclay, a learned 
Quaker, who died in Scotland, 1690. George 
Fox, the founder of this sect, was born 1624. 
He exhibited few articles of faith, and insisted 
mostly on morality, mutual charity, and the love 
of God. The religion and worship he recom- 
mended were simple and without ceremonies. To 
wait in profound silence for the influence of the 
Spirit> was one of the chief points he inculcated. 
u The tenor of his doctrine," says John Gough, 
" when he found himself concerned to instruct 
others, was to wean men from systems, ceremo- 

* See A Summary of the History, Doctrines, and Discipline of 
Friends, written at the Desire of the Electing for Sufferings in 
London. This pamphlet is just published at the end of a curi- 
ous work, entitled A Refutation of some of the most Modern Mis 
representations of the Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, 
nviih a Life of James Nay lor. By Joseph Gurney Bei'Cn. Dr. 
Toulmin. in his nemo edition of Neafs History of the Puritans, has 
taken great pains to give the public just ideas of tiie Quakers ; 
it does honour to his impartiality. See also Dr. A. Ree's valu- 
able and improved edition of Chambers' Encyclopaedia, en the 
subject, 

a 



194 fcl 



d the outsidi i ry form, 

and to ll i! to an b iih them- 

i s, by a solicitou d in 

own minds ; to din nciple of 

urtf, which, if duly attended to, would 
introduce rectitude of mind, simplicity of mam 
a life and coj. n adorm 

virtue.* 
The Quakers 1 of worship, w: 

they regularly a on the first day of the 

k, though soini times without vocal prayer, or 
any religious exhortation. r i 
bration of water L upper 

as outward ordinanc 

p though their Bpeak< r -tain 

— and being firm 

tic doctrines of Election and Reprobation 
advocates of the Arm in of docn 

* ' Drawing liis doctrine from the pure source of religious 
f truil lament, and Che conviction of his own mind 

acted from the comments of nv ttterted lb 

* dom of man in I . of the gospe', again nny of 
1 custom, and against the comhined powers of severe persecution, 
i tlie l mtempt and k< Unshaken and 

* undismayed lie persevered in disseminating principles and prac- 

- conducive to tlie presen: ng of 

f mankind with great honesty, simplicity, and fuceess.' (c) 

(*) Gough/s History of the Qgafc 



QUAKERS. 19& 



so far at least as respects the universal love of God 
to man, in order to his salvation^ 

Their internal government is much admired f 
their own poor are supported without parochial 
aid, and their industry and sobriety are deserving 
of imitation. They also reprobate the destructive 
practice of war, the infamous trafic of slaves, and 
profess their abhorrence of religious persecution* 
Refusing to pay tithes, as an antichristian impo- 
sition, they suffer the loss of their goods and of 
their liberty, rather than comply with the demand,, 
and their losses are emphatically termed by them 
sufferings. Many have endured long imprison- 
ment on that account. As the Quakers object to 
all oaths, as having been prohibited by Christ, 
when he said, sxvear not at all : thus their affir- 
mation is permitted in all civil, but not in criminal 
cases. In the tyrannical reign of the Stuarts,* the 
Friends suffered in common with the Puritans, 
the severest persecution. Even the famous Will- 
iam Penn was tried at the Old Bailey ; and his 
defence on the trial, an account of which is to be 
found in his works, is honourable to his legal 
knowledge, fortitude, and integrity. 

With regard to the resurrection of the body, 
they have deemed it more safe not to determine 
how or when we shall be raised, yet they have 






d in 

. . 
I 

li infinite 

oother . 

, ■ 
\ng the mann< r in whi h< m. 

The same remark applies to I at of 

the divinity of Christ ; but it 

licit on the ; and no 

f acknowledj 
admitted any distinction of p i the 

y. In P n, he 

with freedom I 
h are held in general estimation. The title 

unfair** »«>» iu^Ji 

> 

d — " The Sandy Foundation Shaken, or I 
so generally believed and apj lauded den 
one Cod subsisting in three distinct 

cms; the impossibility of God 
without a j >I atisfaction ; the qual 

: by an imputati 
refuted from the authority of scriptur< 
and right 



auakers; 197 



work by Richard Clarridge, published in his post- 
humous works, in 1726. 

It appears that Mr. Penn having in this work 
reprobated the leading doctrines of Calvinism, a 
violent outcry was raised against him. He there- 
fore vindicated himself in a pamphlet, called In- 
nocency tvith an Open Face, in which he says — ■ 
u As for my being a Socinian, I must confess I 
have read of one Socinus, of (what they call) a 
noble family in Sene, Italy, who about the year 
1574, being a young man, voluntarily did aban- 
don the glories, pleasures, and honours of the Great 
Duke of Tuscany's court at Florence (that noted 
place for all wordly delicacies) and became a per- 
petual exile for his conscience^ whose parts, wis- 
dom, gravity, and just behaviour, made him the 
most famous with the Polonian and Transylva- 
iiian churches ; but I was never baptized into his 
name, and therefore deny that reproachful epithet, 
and if in any thing I acknowledge the verity of 
his doctrine, it is for the truth's sake of which, in 
many things, he had a clearer prospect than most 
of his contemporaries ; but not therefore a Socin- 
ian any more than a son of the English church, 
whilst esteemed a Quaker,, because I justify many 
of her principles since the Reformation against the 
Roman church," But we will add another para- 
graph, where Mr, Penn's principles are epitom- 
& 2 



i 



198 arAKi 



hut up r: 

, that all may see the 

and phrase of my faith, in tl 

bjoin 

* 
u 1 iwn and unfi 

)und know! 
d from the gift of tl unction and 

from on high) in o: 
• list, m< rciful, almighty, and eternal God, wh 
the Father of all tilings ; t ; I to the 

patriarchs and prophets of old, 
and in divers manners — and 

'ow- 
er, true Light, only Saviour, i all ; 

the same one holy, just, merciful, al 
eternal God, who in the full,' took and 

was manifest in the fh . b, at which time lie pre 
ed (and his disciples after him) the ting gos- 

pel of repentance, and promise of ; 
sins, and eternal life to all that heard am! 

I, he that is with you (in the flesh) 
be in you (by the spirit :) and though he left tl 
:as to the flesh; yd not comfortless, for he w 
':ome to them again (in the spirit) for a little v. 
itkI they should not see hi: 

n, a little while, and they should n (in 






aUAKERS. 199 



ir, a manifestation whereof is given to every one, 
to profit with all — in which Holy Spirit, I believe 
as the same almighty and eternal God, who, as 
in those times, he ended all shadows, and became 
the infallible guide to them that walked therein, 
by which they were adopted heirs and co-heirs of 
glory ; so am I a living witness that the same holy, 
just, merciful, almighty, and eternal God, is now, 
as then (after this tedious night of idolatry, super- 
stition, and human inventions, that hath over- 
spread the world) gloriously manifested, to discov- 
er and save from all iniquity, and to conduct unto 
the holy land of pure and endless peace ; in a 
word, to tabernacle in men. And I also firmly 
believe, that without repenting and forsaking of 
past sins, and walking in obedience to the heaven- 
ly voice, which would guide into all truth, and 
establish there, remission and eternal life, can 
never be obtained ; but unto them that fear his 
name and keep his commandments, they and 
they only, shall have a right to the tree of life, 
for whose name's sake, I have been made willing 
to relinquish and forsake all the vain fashions, en- 
ticing pleasures, alluring honours, and glittering 
glories of this transitory world, and readily to ac- 
cept the portion of a fool from this deriding gener- 
ation, and become a man of sorrow, and a per- 
petual reproach to my familiars ; yea, and with 
the greatest cheerfulness, can obsignate and con- 



200 Ai 



1 

unto) p. 
iom of 

Thi 
o{ Quakerism ; — 

of all tin ir writ 

111'! 

than in I >ugh 

I 
to the fundamental doctrines of 

K>f of thi n among 

late proceedings oi the 
ety 

, in N 

War 

Appeal to the j 
a three party, on which, v/iad- 

othen I crax has replii 



ftirAKF.H 201 



Unitarianism, and some other Primitive Doe~ 
trinesy §*c. — see! also some Tracts relating to the 
controversy between Hannah Barnard and the 
Society of Frieinds.* 

There ai yearly meetings among them 

tch of which all rules and advices are formed 
for the general government of the society in the 
country, where they are respectively established. 
And no Member of the Society is precluded from 
attending, or partaking in the deliberations of 
these assemblies, which are nevertheless strictly 
speaking constituted of representatives, by regular 
appointment from each quarterly meeting. The 
following are the seven yearly meetings : 1. Lon- 
don, to which come representatives from Ire- 
land ; 2. New England ; 3. New York ; 4* 
Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; 5. Maryland ; 
6. Virginia ; 7. The Carolinas and Georgia. 
The form and colour of their clothes, together 
with their peculiar modes of salution, have been 
thought to savour of affectation, though they 
certainly exhibit a striking contrast to the gaudy 

* The Author has omitted a Note expressive of his concern 
for the proceedings of the Society, against Hannah Barnard--' 
because it subjected him to the imputation of partiality. 
But he thinks it incumbent on him to declare that lie still 
continues as much as ever the enemy of intolerance, under 
whatever form it may please tc impose itself on the religious 
world. 



202 hi . 



. ry and artifi dern tin 

:.re in his It tt« N non* 

I Q 
• 

tirical wi vorth 

i hool, to which (a g 
and good man] Dr. Fothergill left legacii s, and 

I 
one hundred i 
ward >se of th ith cerrtury, V. 

l, wlio founded Pi , introduced aud 

and flourishing col 
with th< 

I for the 
ilj.and reflects immortal honour on I 
mor 

In addition to the T 
bv the Friends — the rea i the Re* 

cord - uiiam Matthews of Bath, and to a 

Pamphlet lately published by Joiin Hancock, of 
i. . 
I have thus Aired to igth 

the doctri 
its ad 1 

spec, ::\\g their natui 

abovt , which 

i a dead 

kind of Enthusiasts, violent;' 



METHODISTS. 203 



impulses and feelings — whilst a third class have 
considered them, notwithstanding their profes- 
sions respecting the spirit, as, worldly-minded , 
eagerly intent on the acquisition of property, and 
thus commanding the good things of this present 
world. Persons, who entertain any of these 
opinions concerning them, will perceive from the 
above account, that though their sentiments are 
very peculiar, as are also their manners, yet we 
have every reason to suppose them sincere in 
their professions, and upon the whole, steadily 
governed by the prospects of another world. Al- 
lowances ought to be made for human infirmity. 
Nor must we expect, from man more than it is 
in his power to perform. Every individual of 
every sect, has an indubitable right to form his 
own opinions on religious subjects* And let 
him freely indulge those opinions which (however 
absurd in the eyes of others) may to him appear 
consonant to truth — whilst he holds sacred the 
peace and happiness of society. 



METHODISTS, 

BOTH CALVINISTIC AND ARMINXAN. 

THE Methodists m this country form a large 
part of the community. In the year 1729, they 
sprang up at Oxford, under Mr. Morgan (who 
soon after died) and under Mr, John Wesley. In 



■ i 



r, the la 
How of 
spend 

Mr. Morgan, commoner of Chri I 

Mr. '■ i, of Merton Col Next 

two or thi pupils of Mr. John Wt 

and o 

Mr. Ingham of Queen's Col- 
Mr. Broughton, of Exeter, and Mr, Ja 

d in 1735, tin y w d by the 

ted Mr. Whitfield, then in his eight* 
They soon 

y of th< .Inch 

11 to a young gentleman of C 
Church, to say— a Here is a newsect of Method 
sprung up !" alluding to a sect of ancient P 

by method or n i 
f in opposition to quackery or empiri< 
Thus was the terra Methodist originally applied 
to this body of Christians, on account of the 
of their lives ; but is in 
, by s une, indi appropriated x^ 

> individual who ma i more than ord: 

rn for the salvation of mankind. 
Tin se b< ads d in r« I. 

ntiment, their rei 

into two parties ; the one under 



METHOMSTS. 205 



Mr. George Whitfield, the other under Mr. John 
and Charles Wesley, Educated at Oxford, these 
leaders still continued to profess an attachment to 
the articles and liturgy of the Established church, 
though they more commonly adopted the mode 
of worship which prevails among the Dissenters. 
Upon their beiag excluded from the pulpits in 
many churches, they took to preaching in the 
fields ; and from the novelty of the thing, in con- 
junction with the fervour of their exertions, they 
were attended by some thousands of people ! In 
their public labours, Mr. Whitfield having a most 
sonorous Toice, was remarkable for an engaging 
and powerful eloquence ; whilst Mr. John Wes- 
ley, being less under the influence of his passions, 
possessed both in writing and preaching, a per- 
spicuous and commanding simplicity. Even their 
enemies, confess that they contributed in several 
places to reform the lower classes of the commu- 
nity. The Colliers at Kingswood, near Bristol, 
and the Tinners in Cornwall, were greatly bene- 
fitted by their exertions. In consequence cf their 
attention to the religion of Jesus, by the instru- 
mentality of these preachers, many of them rose 
to a degree of respectability, and became valuable 
members of society. The followers of Mr* 
Wesley are Arminians y though seme of his 
preachers incline to B axterianisvu The fol- 
lowers of Mr., Whitfield are Calvinists, and were 
R 






MF 



patronized by the late Countess Dowager of 
Huntingdon, to whom Mr. W. was chaplain, 
and who was a lady of groat benevolence and 
(a near relation of the cele- 
brated counsellor of that name) has taken her 
situation, and is said to bo equally att< 
the concerns of this part of the r commu* 

nity. With respect to the splitting of tlu Me- 
thodists into Calvinists and Arminians, it happen- 
ed so far back as the year 1741 ; the former being 
for particular, and the latter for universal re* 
ption. Of the number of the Methodists, 
various statements 1) n given — but no ac- 

count has ever yet reached me which bore the 
marks of accuracy, 

Both Mr. Wesley and Mr. Whitfield were in- 
defatigable in promoting their own views of the 
Christian religion, notwithstanding all the re- 
proaches with which they were stigmatized. It 
js well known that for this purpose Mr. Whitfield 
went over several times to America. Mr. Whit- 
field, indeed, established an Orphan Hon 
Georgia, for which he mad' tions in this 

country, and which was since converted into a 
college for the education of young men, designed 
chiefly for the ministry. To this paragraph, the 
American editor of the Sketch has added — " It 
has been lately burnt, and the whole of the ! 
fice added to it, is in possession of the State. A 



METHODISTS. 207 



just judgment for purchasing slaves to support a 
charitable institution !" 

In America, the Methodists were extremely 
useful, riding 20 or 30 miles in the course of the 
day, and preaching twice or thrice to considerable 
congregations. Take the following account of 
their labours by Mr. Hampson, in his Memoirs 
of Mr. Wesley. u Their excursions (says he) 
through immense forests, abounding in trees of 
all sorts and sizes, were often highly romantic. 
Innumerable rivers and fails of water ; vistas 
opening to the view, in contrast with the un- 
cultivated wilds ; deer now shooting across the 
road, and now scouring through the w r oods, while 
the eye was frequently relieved by the appearance 
of orchards and plantations, and the houses of 
gentlemen and farmers peeping through the trees, 
formed a scenery so various and picturesque, as 
to produce a variety of reflections, and present, 
we will not say to a philosophic eye, but to the 
mind of every reasonable creature, the most 
sublime and agreeable images. Their worship 
partook of the general simplicity. It was fre" 
quently conducted in the open air. The woods 
resourid tp the voice of the preacher, or to the 
singing of the numerous congregation, whilst the 
horses fastened to the trees, formed a singular 
addition to the solemnity. It was, indeed, a 



208 






strik , and might natural: 

mind with a ret: of the antediluvian 

win D the hills and rallies 

otfons, and a Seth, or an Enoch, in tfie 
shadow I ectirig rock, or beneath the foliage 

of some venerable oak, delivered h^ prill 
lectures, and was a preacher of right* 
the people t n 

The distingushing principles of Method 
are salvation by faith in Jesus Christ ; 
ceptiblcy and in some cases instantanc< 

<m ; and an assurance of reconciliation to 

God, with which, they say, the new birth y or 

g bom again, is inseparably attended. On 

doctrines they lay the utmost stress ; and 

information respecting these topics will be found 

in Dr. Hawiis\s History of the Church qf Cfc 

itly published.* Several persons have writ- 
ten the Life of Mr. Wesley ; there is one by Mr. 
Hampson, another by Dr. Whitehead, aud a 
third by Dr. Coke and Mr. Moore.. Mr. Whit- 
field's Life was drawn up by Hie late Dr. Gil 
of Glasgow. Mr. Wesley and Mr. Whitfield 
tooth published an account of their itinerant la- 
bours in this kingdom and in America. T ; 

* Tliis work, it is to be regretted, is deficient in references to 
nul.orities, the soul and- substance of history, 



METHODISTS. 209 



Sketches are entitled Journals, and though con- 
taining many strange things, serve to illustrate 
the principles and progress of Methodism. To 
conclude this article of the Methodists, in the 
words of Mr. Hampson, in his Memoirs of Mr. 
Wesley — a If they possess not much knowledge, 
which however we do not know to be the case, 
it is at least certain they are not deficient in zeal, 
and without any passionate desire to imitate their 
example, we may at least commend their endeav- 
ours for the general good. Every good man 
will contemplate with pleasure, the operation of 
the spirit of reformation, whether foreign or do- 
mestic, and will rejoice in every attempt to pro- 
pagate Christianity in the barbarous parts of the 
world ; an attempt, which if in any tolerable de- 
gree successful will do infinitely more for their 
civilization and happiness, than all the united en- 
ergies of the philosophical infidels ; those boasted 
benefactors of mankind." 

Dr. Priestly published a curious volume of 
Mr. Wesley's Letters, just after bis decease, pre- 
faced with an Address to the Methodists ; where, 
after having freely expostulated with them re- 
specting their peculiarities, he gives them credit 
for their zeal and unwearied activity. The 
Methodists have recently found an eloquent ad- 
vocate in William Wilberforce, Esq. M. P. who 
R2 



210 



plea<! Jigthj in 

on Fitdl 

closed, it may be proi | to adil that a com- 

municati 

tho- 
, where certain | , under the inflin 

.ngs and vociferations, an uncommon ckgree of 

tumult and confusion. Tin- i 

ever, of I 

ful scenes. At Nottingham I \\v 

lit. It j tly to h 

such fanaticism may not continue long, and 
f respectability among them 
will interfere, so as to put an end to j 
which cannot fail to strengthen the hands of in- 
fidelity, and afford matter of grief to all the 
friends of real and substantial pk 

* This work has been ably animadverted upon by the 
T. DfhhJHlj In I Series / Lttrs to the author, in which most 
»i ite positions are cc : And with it?pect to the ar- 
ticle of Her Ir, \V. zealously con- 
ceaning- nf, by the venera- 



NEW METHODISTS. 2 1 1 

NEW METHODISTS. 

* THE New Methodist Connection, 
among the followers of Mr. Wesley, separated 
from the original Methodists in 1797. The 
grounds of this separation they declare to be 
church government, and not doctrines^ as affirm- 
ed by some of their opponents. They object to 
the old Methodists, for having formed a hierachy 
or priestly corporation ; and say that in so doing 
they have robbed the people of those privileges, 
which as members of a Christian church they are 
entitled to by reason and scripture. The neiv 
Methodists have therefore attempted to establish 
every part of their church government on popu- 
lar principles, and profess to have united as much 
as possible the ministers and the people in every 
department of it. This is quite contrary to the 
original government of the Methodists, which in 
the most important cases is confined only to the 
ministers. This, indeed, appears most plainly, 
when their conference or yearly meeting is con- 
sidered ; for in this meeting, no person, who is 
not a travelling preacher, has ever been suffered 
to enter as a member of it, and, indeed, this is the 

* This article was sent to the editor by a correspondent at 
Nottingham, and is inserted with a few alterations and 
omissions. 



112 



point to 

and reso- 
the cii\ '.- 
o upbrai 

tiodists have form 
ure - id par- 

, M -. A\ 
M t thodists ha> 

i denominated I 
Though tin i the di- 

dj yet t 

)J to Ci 
uituj-c I 1 

of time will this 

pbser better wa 

I] nio.st persons have long expected. The 
hment of the Methodists to ti- 
ll, which original 
and was ch f the 

. 
in many others of the 

<n. As all pa: 
led in their contests by some ! 



NEW METHODISTS. 2 1 3 

■■■> ■ ■ i ■ ■ ■ " ■ ■ ■■ ■ - ' ■ " ■ 

frig or not receiving the Lord's Supper, in the 
Established Churchy was long considered as the 
criterion of methodistical zeal or disaffection* 
Thus the rupture that had been long foreseen by 
intelligent persons, and for which the minds oS 
the Methodists has been undesignedly prepared, 
became inevitable when Mr. Wesley's influence 
no longer interfered. Soon after Mr. Wesley's 
death, many things had a tendency to displease 
the societies, and bring forward the division* 
Many petitions having been sent by the societies 
to the preachers, requesting to have the Lord's 
Supper administered to them in their own chap- 
els, the people had the mortification to find that 
this question was decided by lot, and not by the 
use of reason and serious discussion ! 

The New Methodists profess to proceed upon 
liberal, open, and ingenuous principles, in the 
construction of their plan of church government,, 
and their ultimate decision in all disputed matters,, 
is in their popular annual assembly,, chosen by 
certain rules from among the preachers and 
societies. These professions are at least general 
and liberal ; but as this sect has yet continued 
for only a short season, little can be said of it 
at present. It becomes a matter of curious conjec- 
ture and speculation, how far the leading persons 
among them, will act agreeably to their present 
liberal professions. If they should become 



314 



firmly established in . and 

bare ng otlk i 

I 

their late br< 

upon tli ng of • 

among t: the Docti — " Find- 

ing themselves by degret head of a 1 

body of people, and in considerable power and 
influence, they must not have been mcn 3 if : 
had not felt the love of power gratified in 
a situation ; and they must 1 
rnen y if their subsequent conduct had not I 
influenced by if A shrewd hint, that Dr. P. 
thought the Mel t n too remi. 

their attention to their liberti* 
to convey down entire and unmutilatcd to pos- 
terity. 



JUMPERS. 

ORIGINALLY th cc of jump- 

during the time allotted for religious vvoi 
and instruction, was confined to the people called 
Methodists in Wales, the followers of Ha 
Rowland, Williams, and oth< r -. The practice 
began in the western part of the country about 
the year 17G0. It was soon aft uded 



JUMPERS. 215 



by Mr, William Williams (the Welch poet, as he 
is sometimes styled) in a pamphlet, which was 
patronized by the abbettors of jumping in religious 
assemblies, but viewed by the seniors and the 
grave with disapprobation. However, in the 
course of a few years, the advocates of groaning 
and loud talking, as well as of loud singing, re- 
peating the same line or stanza over and over thirty 
er forty times, became more numerous, and were 
found among some of the other denominations in 
the principality, and continue to this day. Se- 
veral of the more zealous itinerant preachers in 
Wales recommended the people to cry out Go- 
goniant (the Welch word for glory) Amen, &c. 
&c. to put themselves in violent agitations ; and 
finally, to jump until they were quite exhausted, 
so as often to be obliged to fall dow r n on the floor, 
or on the field where this kind of worship was 
held. If any thing in the profession of religion, 
that is, absurd and unreasonable, w r ere to surprize 
us, it would be the censure that was east upon 
those who gently attempted to stem this tide* 
which threatened the destruction of true religion 
-as treasonable service f Where the essence of 
true religion is placed in customs and usages wbich 
have no tendency to sanctify the several powers 
through the medium of the understanding, we 
ought not to be surprized, when we contemplate 
instances of extravagance and apostacy. Humai? 



Bid jv* 



natun . Ij not capable of such 

lions for any length oft I when tin -pirits 

become exhausted, and the heart kindled by sym- 
pathy is subsided, the unhappy persons sink into 
the: , and leek for support in intoxication. 

It is not to be doubted but there are many mik 
and pious persons to be found among this class of 
people — men who think they are doing God's 
service,, wh.lst tin y are the victims of fanaticism. 
These are objects of compassion, and doubt! 
will find it in God. But it is certain, from in- 
contestiblc facts, that a number of persons have 
attached themselves to those religious societies, 
who place a very di>proportioneu on the 

practice of jumping, from suspicious motives. 
The theory and practice of such a religion are 
easily understood ; for the man who po ao 

unblushing confidence, and the greatest degree of 
muscular energy, is likely to excel in bodily 
exercise. Upon the whoh , it is probable, as such 
an exercise 1ms no coi e in reason or re- 

velation, tint it has and is still productive 

of more evil than good. Many of the mmisUr., 
who have been forem st in encouraging jumpvt 

uncd to have nothing in view but the gratifica- 
tion of their vanity, inflaming the passions of the 
■multitude by extra representations of the 

Character of the Deity — the condition of man — 
ign of the Saviour's mission. The minis- 






JUMPERS. 217 



ter that wishes not to study to shew himself of 
God # has only to favour jumping, with its ap- 
pendages ; for as reason is out of the question, in 
such a religion, he can be under no feai* of shock- 
ing it* It is some consolation to real religion, to 
add, that this practice is on the decline, as the 
more sober or conseientious, 'who were at first at 
a loss to judge where this practice might carry 
them, have seen its pernicious tendency. 

Such is the account of the Jumpers, which, 
with a few alterations, has been transmitted me 
by a respectable minister, who frequently visits 
the principality. It is to be hoped, that the exer- 
cise of common sense will in time recover them 
from these extravagant ext&sies, which pain the 
rational friends of revelation, and yield matter of 
exultation to the advocates of infidelity. 

About the year 1785, I myself happened very 
accidentally to be present at a meeting, which 
terminated in jumping, y It was held in the open 
air, on a Sunday evening, near Newport, in 
Monmouthshire. The preacher was one of Lady 
Huntingdon's students, who concluded his ser- 
mon with the recommendation of jumping ; and 
to allow him the praise of consistency, he got down 
from the chair on which he stood, and jumped 
along with them. The arguments he adduced 
for this purpose were, that David danced before 
the ark — that the babe leaped in the womb of 
S 






Q —and that the man v. .vas 

removed, leaped and praised God for the 
mercy wind) he had d. He expatiated 

on topics with uncommon y 3 and 

tiie inference, that they ought U 
nilar expressions of joy, for the Messing* 
which Jesus Christ had put into their | .on. 

He then gave an empassioned sketch of the suf- 
ferings of the Saviour, and hereby routed the pas- 
OS of a few around him into a state of violent 
agitation. About nine men and seven women, for 
some little time, rocked to and fro, groaned 
aloud, and then jumped with a kind of frantic 
fury. Some of the audience flew in all directions ; 
others gazed on in silent amazement ! They all 
gradually dispersed, except the jumpers s who 
continued their exertions from eight in the evening 
to near eleven at night. I saw the conclusion 
of it ; they at last kneeled down in a circle, hold- 
ing each other by the hand, while one of them 
prayed with great fervor, and then all rising up 
from offtheir knees, departed. But j to 

their dispersion, they wildly pointed oj ds 

the sky, and reminded one another th Id 

soon meet there and be never again separated I 
I quitted the spot with astonishment- Such 
orderly scenes, cannot be of any service t 
deluded individuals, nor can they prove beneficial 
to society. Whatever credit we may and oughl 



CNIVERS ALISTS. 2 1 & 

allow this class of Christians for good intentions, 
it is impossible not to speak of the practice itself, 
without adopting terms of unqualified disappro- 
bation. The reader is referred to Bingley's and 
Evans 9 Tour through Wales, where (as many 
particulars are detailed respecting tire Jumpers) 
his curiosity will receive a still farther gratifica- 
tion. It pains the author of the present work, 
that he had it not in his power to give a more 
favourable account of them. The decline of so 
unbecoming a practice will, it is to be hoped, be 
soon followed by its utter extinction* 



UNIVERSALISTS. 

THE Universalists, properly so called, are 
those who believe, that as Christ died for all, sa 
before he shall have delivered up his mediatorial 
kingdom to the Father, all shall be brought to a 
participation of the benefits of his death, in their 
restoration to holiness and happiness. Their 
scheme includes a reconciliation of the tenets of 
Calvinism and Arminianism, by uniting the lead- 
ing doctrines of both, as far as they are found in 
the scriptures : from which union they think the 
sentiment of universal restoration naturally flows. 

Thus they reason — <( The Arminian proves 
from scripture, that God is love ; that he is good 






tO Q 

; that he 

• 

from Si 
I 

not ; 
itb of Christ will b<* etVicacious tow 
all for whom it was intended ; that God wi per- 
form all his pleasure, and that his council s 
stand. The union of these scriptural prii 
the final restoration of all men. 

u Taking the principles Oi the Calvin 

•.tely, we find the former teach- 
ing, or at least inferring, that God doth not love 
all ; but that he made the greater part of men to 
is monuments of his wrath. — The latter 
declaring the love of God to all ; but admitting 
his final failure of restoring t 

I of the former is great in power 
lom, but nt in goodness, and capri- 

cious in his conduct : who I 
acter can \y love it ? The God of the latter, 

is exceeding good ; but deficient in power and 
wisdom : who can trust such a being ? If, \\\ 
lore, both Calvinists and Arniinians love 
trust the Deity, it is not under the chard 
which their several iyst< ; but 



UNIVERSALISTS. 221 

'■ "" ■■■■■■ • i ■ 

they are constrained to hide the imperfections 
which their views cast upon him, and boast of a 
God, whose highest glory, their several schemes 
will not admit." 

The Universalists teach the doctrine of elec- 
tion ; but not in the exclusive Calvinistic sense of 
it; they suppose that God has chosen some, for 
the good of all ; and that his final purpose towards 
all, is intimated by his calling his elect the first 
born and the first fruits of his creatures, which, 
say they, implies other branches of his family, and 
a future in-gathering of the harvest of mankinds 
They teach also that the righteous shall have 
part in the first resurrection, shall be blessed and 
happy, and be made priests and kings to God and 
to Christ,in the millennial kingdom, and that over 
them the second death shall have no power ; that 
the wicked will receive a punishment apportioned 
to their crimes, that punishment itself is a media- 
torial work,- and founded upon mercy, consequent- 
ly, that it is a means of humbling, subduing, and 
finally reconciling the sinner to God. 

They add, that the words rendered everlasting, 
eternal, for ever, and for ever and ever, in the 
scriptures, are frequently used to express the du- 
ration of things that have ended, or must end ; 
and if it is' contended,, that these words are some- 
times used to express proper eternity, they an-- 
32 



222 



s ith which the \\ 

- 
Dg ui the Q|ture of future pun- 
i ed as a why 

jt fthould , they infer that the above 

ken in a limiti 
li d with tin infliction of misery. 
The Univt have to contend on the i 

hand with such as hold the eternity of future 

e who teach 
that destruction or /i of being, will be 

tte of the I. In answer to the 

" That before we admit that God 
M under the necessity of striking any of his ration- 
al creatures out of being, we Qugbt to p 
enquire — 

" Whether such an act is consistent \\ 
scriptural character of the Deity, as possessed of 
all possible wisdom, goodness and power ? 

" Whether it would not contradict many p 
of scripture ; such, for instance, as speak of the 
restitution of all things — the gathering tog< 
of all things in Christ — the ion of all 

things t(* the father, by the blood of the cross—* 
the destruction of death, &c." These texts, they 
think, are opposed equally to end 
to final destruction. 






UNI VERBALISTS. 223 



u Whether those- who will be finally destroy- 
ed, are not in a worse state through the media- 
tion of Christ, than they would have been with- 
out it ? This question is founded on a position of 
the friends of destruction ; viz. that extinction of 
being, without a resurrection, would have been 
the only punishment of sin, if Christ had not be 
come the resurrection and the life to men. Conse- 
quently, the resurrection and future punishment 
spring from the system of mediation ; but, they 
ask, is the justification to life, which came upon 
all men in Christ Jesus, nothing more than a res- 
urrection to endless death to millions i 

u Whether the word, destruction, will war- 
rant such a conclusion ? It is evident that destruc- 
tion is often used in scripture to signify a cessation 
of present existence only, without any contradic- 
tion of the promises that relate to a future univer- 
sal resurrection* They think, therefore, that they 
ought to admit an universal restoration of men, 
notwithstanding the future destruction which is 
threatened to sinners :* because, say they, the 
scripture teach both." 

They also think the doctrine of destruction^ 
in the above acceptation of it, includes two con- 

. * See Vidler's Notes on Winchester's Dialogues on the R©* 
*toration, fourth edition, p, 176- 



UNI 



difficult The scripture uniformly 

3 of punishn 

ion ; but d 
hi the gr 

taught that, however dark a 

conduct may appear in the present state, yet 

tice will be ive in its operal 

ifter ; but tlie doctrine of destruction (in their 
judgment) does not admit of this, for what ifl the 
surprising difference betwixt the moral cl 
of the worst good man, and the best bad man, 
that the portion of the one should be endless Kfe, 
and that of the other tth ? 

They suppose the universal doc; be most 

consonant to the perfections of the Deity — most 
worthy of the character of Christ, as the media- 
tor ; and that the scriptures cannot be made i 
sktent with themselves, upon any other plan. 
They teach that ardent love to God, peace, m< 

, candour, and universal love to men, are the 
natural result of their views." 

This doctrine is not new. Ongen, a C 
r, who lived in the third century, wrOI 
favour of it. St. Augustine, of Hippo, mentions 
some divines in bis torn lie calk the mer- 

ciful doctors, who held it. The German Bap- 
tist--, many of them, even before the reformation, 
propagated it. The people called Tub) 



UNIVERSALISTS. 225 



America, descended from the German Baptists, 
mostly hold it. The Menonites, in Holland 
have long held it. In England, about the latter 
end of the seventeenth century, Dr. Rust, Bishop 
of Dronlore, in Ireland, published A Letter of 
Resolutions concerning Origeti, and the chief 
of his opinions, in which it has been thought he 
favoured the Universal Doctrine, which Origen 
held. And Mr. Jeremiah White wrote his book 
in favour of the same sentiments soon afterwards. 
The Chevalier Ramsay, in his elaborate work of 
the Philosophical principles of Natural and Re. 
vealed Religion espouses it. Archbishop Tillot- 
son, in one of his sermons, supposes fature pun- 
ishment to be of limited duration, as does Dr, 
Burnet, master of the Charter-House, in his book 
on the state of the dead. 

But the writers of late years, who have treated 
upon the subject most fully, are Dr. Newton, 
Bishop of Bristol, in his Dissertations ; Mr. 
Stonehouse, Rector of Islington ; Dr. Chauncy, 
of Boston, in America ; Dr. Hartley, in his pro- 
found work of man ; Mr. Purves, of Edinburgh ; 
Mr. Elhanan Winchester, in his Dialogues on 
Universal Restoration (a new edition of which, 
with explanatory notes, has been recently pub- 
lished) and Mr. William Vidler. See the Uni- 
versalisVs Miscellany, now entitled the Theolo- 
gical Magazine and Impartial Review, (a 



226 rs. 

monthly uon ot taining n 

valuable papers, for and against I I Re- 

gion, where the controv 
veeo Mr. Vidler and Mr. Fuller, will be 
found. But Mr. Fuller's Letters 
printed separately, and Mr. VidlerV Li tter to 
Mr. Fuller, on the Universal Restoration, 
a statement of facts attending that controv 
and some strictures on Scrutator's Review, are 
also just published. The I r- Browne, a 

clergyman of the church of England, has pro- 
duced an ingenious essay on the subject. Mr. 
R. Wright, of Wisbeach, has also written a tract 
called, The Eternity of Hell Tormrts I 

i'jle, in reply ft Dr. Ryland. The 1 
N. Scarlett likewise published a new translation 
of the Testament, in which the Greek term 
in the singular and plural, is rendered age and 
ages ; and in his Appendix proposed that its de- 
rivative ctiGviav should be rendered age-las' 
instead of everlasting and eternal. 

For still further information ttit r is re- 

ferred to a very critical work jusl 
titled, An Essay op the Duration of a Future . v 
of Punishments and Rewards, by John Sim; 
who has written several excellent piece?, for the 
illustration of Christianity. 



fcELLYAN UNIVERSALISTS. 227 



RELLYAN UN IVERSALISTS. 

AMONG the professors of Universal Salva- 
tion, which have appeared in the last century, is 
to be ranked a Mr. James Relly, who first 
commenced the ministerial character, in connec- 
tion with the late Mr. George Whitfield, and with 
the same sentiments as are generally maintained 
at the Tabernacle — he was considered and received 
with great popularity. Upon a change of his 
views, he encountered reproach, and of course 
was soon pronounced an enemy to godliness, &c, 
It appears rfhat he became convinced of the union 
of mankind to God, in the person of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ. And upon this per- 
suasion he preached a finished salvation, called 
by the Apostle Jude, u The Common Salvation.** 
The relation and unity of the first and second 
Adam unto God, the author and fountain of all 
things, was the foundation of those sentiments 
he continued to maintain during his life ; — and 
he was followed by a considerable number of 
persons who were convinced of the propriety of 
his views. Since his death, his sentiments have 
been retained by such who were attached to them 
in sincerity, and although time has necessarily 
removed a considerable part to the world of 
.spirits, a branch of the survivors still meet at 
the Chapel in "Windmill-street, Finsbury-square, 



228 N T CWIVERSALU 

rent brethren who speak,— 
not observers of ordinance?, such 
water baptism and tfa it — professing to 

believe in only one baptism — which they call an 
- on of Ihe mind or conscience into truth 
( reaching of the spirit of God — and by the 
spirit they are enabled to feed on ChriM 
the bread of life, professing that in, and with 
► they p< Wl things. They inculcate 

and maintain good works for necessary purposes, 
but contend that the principal and only works 
which ought to be attended to, is the doing 
real good without religious ostentation ; — that to 
and dh of mankind* 

according to our ability, in doing more real good 
than the superstiti servance of religi 

monies — in general they appear to believe that 
there will be a resurrection to life, and a resur- 
rection to condemnation — that believers only 
will be among the former, who as first fruits, and 
king* and priests will have part in the first resur- 
rection, and shall reign with Christ in his king- 
dom of the millennium ; that unbelievers who are 
after raised, must wait the manifestation of the 
Saviour of the world — under that condemnation 
of conscience, which a mind in darkness and 
wrath must necessarily feel : — that believers, call- 
ed kings and priests will be made the medium 
uf communication to their condemned brethren — . 



RELLYAN UNIVERSALISTS. 229 

and, like Joseph to his brethren — though he spoke 
roughly to them, in reality overflowed with af- 
fection and tenderness ; that ultimately — every 
knee shall bow — and every tongue confess, that 
in the Lord they have righteousness and strength 
—and thus every enemy shall be subdued to the 
kingdom and glory of the great Mediator. 

A Mr. Murray, belonging to this society, emi- 
grated to America previous to or about the time 
of the war — He preached the same sentiments at 
Boston and elsewhere, and was appointed chap- 
lain to General Washington. There are a num- 
ber of adherents at Boston, Philadelphia, and 
other parts. Mr. RELLY published several works 
— the principal of which were " Union" — " The 
Trial of Spirits"—" Christian Liberty"—" One 
Baptism"—" The Salt of Sacrifice"—" Anti- 
christ Resisted" — " Letters on Universal Salva- 
tion" — " The Cherubimical Mystery" — " Hymns," 
&c. &c. His followers now meet at the Chapel 
in Windmill street, Finsbury-square, Sunday 
mornings and evenings. Messrs. Rait, Coward* 
Jeffreys, &c. speak from time to time, and Mr, 
Coward has published two little treatises — enti- 
tled " Deism traced to its Source," and " The 
Comparison ; or, the Gospel preached of God to 
the Patriarchs," compared with the gospel preach- 
ed in the present day. There are also some of 
those same sentiments in other parts of the king- 
T 



230 RKLLVAN UNIYKRSAMSI 

dom, and particularly at and in the vicinity of 
Plymouth-Dock, and Plymouth in Devon 

Th , who have of late particularly 

madverted upon the doctrine of Universal R 

ration are, in America, President Edwards and his 
son, Dr. Edwards ; and in England, Mr. D 
Taylor, Mr. Fisher, and Mr. Andrew Fuller.f 

Mr. Broughton, at the close of his Dissertations 
on Futurity (shocked at the idea of eternal 
punishment in every case) proposes the follow- 

* Such is the account of the followers of Mr. Relly, aent me 
by a respectable member amongst them. I have taken the lib- 
erty of applying to them the title of Re My an Unrversalists, merely 
by way of distinction. The term Antinomian has been bestow- 
ed upon them ; but as it conveys a degree of reproach it is 
here avoided. Indeed, believing that Christ has made satis- 
f action for the sins of all mankind, tliey are of opinion that 
no future punishment attaches to unbelievers, except that con- 
demnatory suspence, which they feel after death, till the mani- 
on of the Saviour \ This sentiment most probably has 
subjected them to the imputation of Antinomian ism — and hence 
it has been remarked that they are the only consistent Sal 
tionists in the world. For sins once atoned for, cannot be the 
subject of punishment. 

+ For most of the above account of the i r niversalisfs y preced- 
ing that of the Relly an Universa lists, the author is indebted to a 
r minister of that persuasion ; and the sketch of the De- 
struiti'jnists was sent by a gentleman who espouses the &* 
of destruction. 



DESTRUCTIONISTS. 231 

ing hypothesis — €C That the spirit of God had 
made choice of an ambiguous term xtmos acknowl- 
edged on both sides, sometimes to be an eternal, 
and sometimes only a temporary duration, with 
the wise view, that men might live in fear of 
everlasting punishment ; because, it is possible, 
it may be everlasting ; and at the same time 
God be at liberty, (if I may so speak) without im- 
peachment of his faithfulness and truth, to inflict 
either finite or infinite punishment, as his divide 
wisdom, power, and goodness shall direct." He 
however, only suggests this scheme with an ami- 
able and becoming modesty. 



DESTRUCTIONISTS. 

BETWEEN the system of restoration and the 
system of endless misery , a middle hypothesis of 
the FINAL DESTRUCTION of the wicked (after 
having suffered the punishment due to their 
crimes) has been adopted more particularly by Dr. 
John Taylor, of Norwich ; the Rev. Mr. Bourne, 
of Birmingham ; and Mr. John Marsom, in two 
small volumes, of which there has been a second 
edition with additions. They say that the scrip- 
ture possitively asserts this doctrine of destruc- 
tion ,* that the nature of future punishment (which 



I 









I 

' I 

•• no law 
b for 
-t be 
in wai ever put to d- 
i convince his judgment or to reform 
conduct ; that if re a pu: 

■ d to their crimes, their del 
ancc ier to be attribured to the mercy of 

God, nor the mediation of Jesus Christ, but is an 
act of absolute justice ; and finally, that 
diatorial kingdom o: Christ will never be 

delivered up, since the scripture asserts, that of 
his kingdom there shall be no end. Tho^e who 
maintain ntimeiits respecting the destruc- 

tion of the wicked, are accused of espousing the 
doctrine of annihilation ; but this accusation I 
repel, alledging, that philosophically speal. 
there can be no annihilation, and that destruction 
e express phrase used in the New Te.-tainent. 
Of this sentiment there have been many advoc 
distinguished for their erudition and pie* 



SABBATARIANS, 233 



SABBATARIANS. 

THE Sabbatarians are a body of Christians 
who keep the seventh day as the Sabbath, and are 
to be found principally, if not wholly, among the 
Baptists. The common reasons why Christians 
observe the first day of the week as the Sabbath 
are, that on this day Christ rose from the dead % 
that the apostles assembled, preached, and admin- 
istered the Lord's Supper, and that it has been 
kept by the church for several ages, if not from 
the time when Christianity was originally pro 
mulgated. The Sabbatarians, however, think 
these reasons unsatisfactory, and assert that the 
change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the 
first day of the week, was effected by Constan- 
tine, upon his conversion to the Christian religion. 
The three following propositions contain a sum- 
mary of their principles as to this article of the 
Sabbath, by which they stand distinguished. 1st, 
That God hath required the observation of the 
seventh, or last day of every week, to be observ- 
ed by mankind universally for the weekty sabbath, 
2dly, That this command of God is perpetually 
binding on man till time shall be na more ; and 
3dly, That this sacred rest of the seventh day 
sabbath is not (by divine authority) changed from 
the seventh and last to the first day of. the week, 
or that the scripture doth no where require the 
T2 






*j>i SABBATAKi 



tion of any other day of the week for the 

ith, but t mly. There 

wo congregations of the Sabbatarians in Lon- 

among the g in 

Mill-; J the 

t laptUti meeting in I 

' to be found in 

i the kin. 
Mr. Morse informs ui I my Sab- 

in America. u Some («ayi he) in 
land observe the Jewish or j sab- 

bath, from a persuation that it was one of th< 
commaii , which they plead are all in their 

re moral, and were never abrogated in the 
New Testament Though, on the contrary, oth- 
believe it originated at the time of the 
tion, in the command given to Adam, by the 
Jf." See Genesis, chap. ii. 3. "At 
New Je: i there are three congregation of 

the Seventh Day Bapti- I at Ep 

Pennsylvania, there is one congregation of them 
• ailed Timber*. There are 

i me, who 
of the 1\ or Q.uaker Bap- 

Thi has given rise to atro- 

, and writers of ability ha 

of the i . Mr. Coi 



SABBATARIANS. 235 

waite, a respectable minister among them, about 
the year 1740, published several tracts in support of 
it, which ought to be consulted by those who wish 
to obtain satisfaction on the subject. The reader 
should also have recourse to Dr. Chandler's two 
discourses on the Sabbath, Mr. Amner's Disserta- 
tion on the Weekly Festival of the Christian 
Church, Dr. Kennicot's Sermon and Dialogue on 
the Sabbath, the Rev. S. Palmer's publication on 
the Nature and Obligation of the Christian Sab- 
bath, and Estlin's apology for the Sabbath — all of 
which are worthy of attention. But whatever 
controversy may have been agitated on the sub- 
ject, certain it is, that were there no particular 
day set apart for the purpose of devotion (for 
which some in the present day contend) our 
knowledge of human nature authorises us to say, 
that virtue and religion would be either greatly 
debilitated or finally lost from among mankind; 
The Sabbatarians hold in common with other 
Christians, the distinguishing doctrines of Chris- 
tianity, and though much reduced in number, de- 
serve this distinct mention, on account of their 
integrity and respectability.* 



* Most of the above particulars respecting the Sabbatarians 
were communicated to the author by some worthy individuals 
of that persuasion. 



23a MORAVIAN-. 



MORAVIANS. 

THE Moravians are supposed to have ar 
under Nicholas Lewis, Count of Zinzendorf, a 
German nobleman, who died 1760. T! 
also Called //' rnhutrrsy from Hernhuth, the name 
of the village where they were firtl fettled. The 
followers of Count Zinzendorf are call- 

i8j because the first converts to his sv 
were some Moravian families ; the society 
themselves, however assert, that they are de- 
scended from the old Moravian and Bohemian 
Brethren, who existed as a distinct sect sixty 
years prior to the reformation. They also 
themselves Unitas Fratrum, or the Cnited 
Brethren ; and, in general, profess to adhere to 
Augsburg confession of faith. When the 
first reformers were assembled at Augsburg in 
Germany, the Protestant Princes employed Me- 
lancthon, a divine of learning and moderation, 
to draw up a confession of their faith, expn 
in terms as little ofT :> the Roman Catho- 

lics as a regard for truth would permit. And 
this oreed, from the place where it was presented, 
is called the Confession of Augsburg. It is 
not easy to unravel the leading tenets of the 
Moravians. Opinions and practices re- 
attributed to them of an exceptionable nature, 
:h the more sensible of them 



MORAVIANS, 23.7 



direct their worship to Jesus Christ ; (addressing 
hymns even to the wound or hole in the side of 
the Saviour) ; are much attached to instrumental 
as well as vocal music in their religious services; 
and discover a predilection for forming themselves 
into classes, according to sex, age, and charac- 
ter. Their founder not only discovered his zeal 
in travelling in person over Europe, but has taken 
special care to send missionaries into almost every 
part of the known world. They revive their de- 
votion by celebrating agapae, or love-feasts, and 
the casting of lots is used amongst them to know 
the will of the Lord. The sole right of con- 
tracting marriage lies with the elders. In Mr. 
La Trobe's edition of Spangeiiburgh's exposition 
of Christian doctrine, their principles are detailed 
at length. There is a large community of them 
at a village near Leeds, which excites the curiosi- 
ty of the traveller ; and they have places of wor- 
ship in various parts of the kingdom, Mr. Rimius 
published his candid narrative of this people, and 
Bishop Lavington (who wrote also against the 
Methodists) replied, in 1755, in his Moravians 
compared and detected. Mr. Weld, in his Tra- 
vels through the United States, gives a curious 
account of a Settlement of Moravians at Beth- 
lehem, honourable to their virtue and piety. 

Dr. Paley, in his Evidences of Christianity, 
pays the following compliment to the religious 



8A1 

tices of the Moravians and Method, 
;)g of the fira I 

:>, much of their time Wl 
in prayer And devotion — i ttngi — in 

rating I 
hortations — in preaching — in an affection 

6 with one another, and correspondence 
with other so ode of life in 

rm and iat of the 

Unitas Fratrum or of modern Method: 
Be it, however, the detire of every body of 
Christians not only thus to imitate the primitive 

in their outivard conduct, but to a 
after the peaceabl if their H and the 

purity of their lh i 



SJNDEMJNIJNS. 

SANDEMANIAN8,* a modern sect, that origi- 
nated in Scotland about the year 1728; where it 
is, at this time, distinguished by the name of 
Glassites, after its founder, Mr. John Gla>, who 
was a minister of the established church in that 
kingdom, but being charged with a design of 
subverting the national covenant, and sapping the 

* Tin author has bt recount of 

the* Sandemanians by a gentleman of respectability, who be- 
longs to that body of Cluistidju. 



SANDEMANIANS. 239 



foundation of all national establishments, by 
maintaining that the kingdom of Christ is not of 
this tvorld, was expelled by the synod from the 
church of Scotland. His sentiments are fully 
explained in a tract published at that time, enti- 
tled, * The Testimony of the King of Martyrs," 
and preserved in the first volume of his works. 
In consequence of Mr. Glas's expulsion his ad- 
herents formed themselves into churches, con- 
formable in their institution and discipline, to 
what they apprehend to be the plan of the first 
churches recorded in the New Testament. Soon 
after the year 1755, Mr. Robert Sandeman, an 
elder in one of thes e churches in Scotland, pub- 
lished a series of letters addressed to Mr. Hervey, 
occasioned by his Theron and Aspasio, in which 
he endeavors to shew, that his notion of faith is 
contradictory to the scripture account of it, and 
could only serve to lead men, professedly holding 
the doctrines called Calvinistic, to establish their 
own righteousness upon their frames, feelings, 
and acts of faith. In these letters Mr. Sandeman 
attempts to prove that faith is neither more nor 
less than a simple assent to the divine testimony 
concerning Jesus Christ, delivered for the of- 
fences of men, and raised again for their justifi- 
cation, as recorded in the New Testament. He 
also maitains that the word faith or belief, is 
constantly used by the apostles to signify what 



210 SA^ 

; >t< d by it in common I z. a per- 

il of the truth o n, and that 

Dg any com. 
mon testimony and believing the apostolic testi- 
mony . t which from the t( 

utbority on which it 
Thil 1 vay to a controversy among 

I Calvinists, concerning the 
nature of justifying faith, and those who adopted 
Mr. Sandeman's notion of it, and they who are 
denominated Sandemanians, formed tin 
into church order, in strict fellowship with the 
churches of Scotland, but holding no kind of 
communion witli other churches. Mr. Sandeman 
died 1772, in America. 

The chief opinion and practices in which this 
sect differs from other Christians, are, their 
weekly administration of the Lord's Supper ; their 
love-feasts, of which every member is not only 
allowed, but required to partake, and which con- 
sist of their dining together at each other's be 
in the interval between the morning and 4 . 
noon sen ice— their kiss of charity used on this 
occasion, at the admission of a new member, and 
at other times when they deem it in- and 

proper; their weekly collection before the Lord's 
Supper, for the support of the poor and defraying 
other ; rftutual exhortation ; al 

1 ud things strangled ; washing each 

II 



sANDEMANIANS. 24 2 

other's feet, when, as a deed of mercy, it might 
be an expression of love ; the precept concerning 
which, as well as other precepts, they understand 
literally — community of goods, so far as that 
every one is to consider all that he has in his pos- 
session and power liable to the calls of the poor 
and the church, and the unlawfulness of laying 
up treasures upon earth, by setting them apart for 
any distant, future, and uncertain use. They al- 
low of public and private diversions so far as they 
are not connected with circumstances really sin- 
ful : but apprehending a lot to be sacred, disap- 
prove of lotteries, playkig at cards, dice, &c. 

They maintain a plurality of elders, pastors, or 
bishops, in each church, and the necessity of the 
presence of two elders, in every act of discipline, 
and at the administration of the Lord's Supper. 

In the choice of these elders, want of learning 
and engagement in trade are no sufficient objec- 
tions, if qualified according to the instructions 
given to Timothy and Titus ; but second marri- 
ages disqualify for the office ; and they are or.^ 
dained by prayer and fasting, imposition of hands, 
and giving the right hand of fellowship. 

In their discipline they are strict and severe, 
and think themselves obliged to separate from the 
communion and worship of all such religious 
societies, as appear to them not to profess the 
simple truth for their only ground of hope, and 
u 



MS HUTCHI\>OM 



who do not walk in obedience to it. We 
only add, that in » m ry transa< 
unanimity to 






HCTCIIIXSONLIXS. 

Hutshin^omans, tlie followers of John 
Hutchinson, born in Yorkshire, 1674, and wi: 
the early part of life served the Duke of Somer- 
set, in the capacity of a steward. The He! 
scriptures, he says, comprise a perfi to of 

natural philosophy, theology, and religion. In 
opposition to Dr. Woodward's Natural History of 
the Earth, Mr. Hutchinson, in 1724, published the 
first part cf his curious book, called, Mo 
Principia. Its second part was presented to the 
public in 1727, which contains, as he appreln 
the principles of the scripture philosophy, which 
are a plenum and the air. So high an opinion did 
he entertain of the Hebrew language, that he 
thought the Almighty must have employed it to 
communicate every species of knowledge, and 
that accordingly every species of knowledge is to 
be found in the Old Testament. Of his mod 
philosophising the following specimen is broi 
lorw ard to the reader's attention. " The air (he 
supposes) exists in three conditions, fire, light, and 
spirit, the two latter are the finer and gr< 
of the air in motion : from the earth to 



DUNKERS. 243 



sun, the air is finer and finer until it becomes pure 
light near the confines of the sun, and fire in the 
orb of the sun, or solar focus. From the earth 
towards the circumference of this system, in which 
he includes the fixed stars, the air becomes gross- 
er and grosser until it becomes stagnant, in which 
condition it is at the utmost verge of this system, 
from whence (in his opinion) the expression of 
outer darkness j and blackness of darkness used 
in the New Testament seems to be taken." 

The followers of Mr. Hutchinson are numer- 
ous, and among others the Rev. Mr. Romaine, 
Lord Duncan Forbes, of Culloden, and the late 
amiable Dr. Home, Bishop of Norwich, who pub- 
lished an Abstract of Mr. Hutchinson's writings. 
They have never formed themselves into any dis- 
tinct church or society. 

The Dunkers and Shakers are two sects pecu- 
liar to America. 



DUNKERS. 



THE DuNKEKS (or Tunkers) arose about 1721, 
and formed themselves into a kind of common- 
wealth, mostly in Pennsylvania. They baptize 
by immersion, dress like the Dominican friars 






! nor be 

mutton. It is said that no bed ii all I 
i but in case of separate 

: to lie upon, and a I 
of wood for their pillow. Their p;v 
is the mortification of the body, and they deny 
the i \ of future punishment. r i 

commonly Called the harmless Dunk 



SHAKERS. 

THE Shakers, instituted in 1774, are the 
followers of Anna Leese, whom tl 
elect Lady, and the mother of all the Elect. 
They say she is the woman mentioned in the 
twelfth chapter of the Revelations, can speak 
ity-two tongues, and converses with the dead. 
Their enthusiasm is vented in jumping, dan 
and violent exertions of the body, which bringing 
on shaking, they are termed Shakers. This 
dancing, they say, denotes their victory over 
sin. Their most favourite exercise is turning 
round for an hour or two, which, in their opin- 
ion, shews the great power of God. See a curi- 
-iccount of the Shakers in the first volume 
of the Duke de la Rochefoucaulfs Tra 
through America. 



NEW AMERICAN SECT* 245 

NEW AMERICAN SECT. 

" Many of those who lately migrated from 
Wales to America, have adopted the following 
articles as their religious constitution. 1. The 
convention shall be called the Christian Church* 

€C 2. It shall never be called by another name, 
or be distinguished by the particular tenets of any 
man or set of men. 

u 3. Jesus Christ is the only head — believers in 
him the only members — and the New Testament 
the only rule of the fraternity. 

t€ 4. In mental matters, each member shall en- 
joy his own sentiments, and freely discuss every 
subject : but in discipline, a strict conformity with 
the precepts of Christ, is required. 

(C 5. Every distinct society belonging to this 
association, shall have the same power of admit- 
ting its members, electing its officers, and in case 
of mal-conduct, of impeaching them. 

<c 6. Delegates from the different congrega- 
tions, shall meet from time to time, at an ap- 
pointed place, to consult the welfare and ad- 
vancement of the general interest. 

€t 7. At every meeting for religious worship^ 
collections shall be made for the poor, and the 
U2 



SMI tic?. 



promulgation of I athens." 

This plan, which has many traits to recom- 
mend it, oii .'iv with the Rev. M. J. 
, who a few ^o emigrated from 

Wales, and has distinguished himself in America, 

by i ad activit 

As to the other sects in the United States, t 

are much the same as on this side of the Atlantic. 

For an account of them, the reader may consult 
"V American Geography, and IVinterbo- 

f ho7n's History of America. 



MYSTICS. 



THE Mystics are those who profess a pure 
and sublime devotion, with a disinterested love of 
God, free from all selfish considerations. Pa 
contemplation i< a Staff of perfection to which 
they aspire. Of this description 
many singular characters, especially Madam 

on, a French lady, who made a gn 
in the relig rid. Tuition, the amiable 

Archbishop of Cambr ured the sentiments 

is repri- 
mand the Pope, and to whose animad 
sions he most dutij'tdly asso. itrary to the 
ictioiH of his own mind. It is not uuc 



SWEDENBORGIANS. 245 



jnon for the Mystics to allegorise certain passa- 
ges of scripture, at the same time not denying 
the literal sense, as having an allusion to the in- 
ward experience of believers. Thus, according 
to them, the word Jerusalem, which is the name 
of the capital of Judea, signifies allegorically the 
church militant ; morally, a believer ; and mys- 
teriously, heaven. That fine passage also in Gen- 
esis, €€ Let there be light, and there was light," 
which is, according to the letter, corporeal light, 
signifies allegorically, the Messiah ; morally, 
grace, and mysteriously, beatitude, or the light of 
glory. Mysticism is not confined to any partic- 
ular profession of Christianity, but is to be under- 
stood as generally applied to those. who dwell up- 
on the inward operations of the mind (such as the 
Quakers, &c.) laying little or no stress on the 
outward ceremonies of religion.* 



SWEDENBORGIANS. 

THE SWEDENBORGIANS are the followers of 
Emannuel Swedeborg, a Swedish nobleman, who 

* The two following sects are occasionally mentioned in 
conversation, and the author has been asked by young people 
more than once for an explanation oi them, A short account 
therefore is here subjoined, 



248 SWEDENBQRGLA 

died in K^iidon, 177^. He prolt ,ed himself to 

rusalrm Churchy alluding to the New Jerusalem 
ok of ti 11 of St. 

John. Hii ' although p tmct 

from n of divinity in ( 

dom, arc nevertheless drawn from the Holy 
Scripture?, and supported by quot from 

them. He asserts, that in the year 1743, the 



The Fifth Monarchy Men were a set of enthusiast! in the 
time of Cromwell, who expected the sudden appearance of 
Christ to establish on earth a new n tdoQk In 

consequence of this allusion some of them aimed at the sub- 
version of all human £■< I :i ancient I 
of four great monarchies, the Assy the 
in, and the Roman : and these men believing that this 
iritual kingdom of Christ was to be the fifths came to 
bear the name by winch they an. lied. See Bu 
History of his own Times, where the irticu- 
far account of tliem. The 'owers 
of Luljvic MttggWton, a journeyman taylor, who with his 
anion, Reeves, (a person of equal I set up for 
in the turbulent times of Cromwell. TU« • 
to absolve or condemn whe: gave ou: 

jesses spoken of in the Revelations 
vere to app ions to the final destruction of the 

world. Dr. Gregory, in his Ecclesiastical EllStory n marks, 
that the -1.' 
&c. who derive their n 

phemeral productions. Indeed they just appeared and 
then passed away ! 



SWEDENBORGIANS. 249 

Lord manifested himself to him in a personal ap- 
pearance ; and at the same time opened his spir- 
itual eyes, so that he was enabled constantly to 
see and converse with spirits and angels.* 
From that time he began to print and publish 
various wonderful things, which, he says, were 
revealed to him, relating to heaven and hell, 
the state of man after death, the worship of God^ 
the spiritual sense of the scriptures, the various 
earths in the universe, and their inhabitants, with 
many other extraordinary particulars, the knowl- 
edge of which was, perhaps, never pretended to 
by any other writer, before or since his time. 
He denies a Trinity of persons In the Godhead, 
but contends for a divine Trinity in the single 



* Baron Swedenborg r in his treatise concerning heaven end 
bell, and of the wonderful things therein, as heard and seen by 
him, makes the following' declaration. " As' often as I con- 
versed with angels face to face, it was > in their habitations, 
wliich are like to our houses on earth, but far more beautiful 
and magnificent, having rooms, chambers, and apartments in 
great variety, as also spacious, courts belonging to them, to- 
gether with the gardens, parterres of flowers, &c. where 
the angels are formed into societies. They dwell in contigu- 
ous habitations, disposed after the manner of our cities, 
in streets, walks, and squares. I have had the privilege to 
walk through them, to examine all around about me, and to 
enter their houses, and this when I was fully awake, having my 
inward eyes opened." A similar description is given of 
heaven itself, but the reader is referred to the treatise whence 
this curious extract is taken, 



250 

. - = _ ■ ■- 

I alone, t 
er, S 1 Holy Spirit, just like the In; 

idii idual man, i , and 

proc* 

inity c the for 

Trinity constitute! one Jehovah God, v 
once the Creator, R r, and R .ttor. 

On this and other subjects, Dr. P 

n to the members of the 
Churchy to which several , and 

particularly one by Mr. R. Hindi] 

Baron !)org fin that the 

sacred scripture 

d celestial , spi 
are united by correspondence 
sense it is divine truth, accommodi 
ively to the angels of the three heavens, and also 
to men on earth. This science of correspond- 
encics (it is said) had I for .some thou- 

sand of years, viz. ever since the time of Job, 
but is now revived by Emanuel Swedenborg, 
who uses it I y to the spiritual or int< 

sense of the sacred scripture, age of which, 

iys, is written by correspondencies, that is, 
by such things in the natural world as correspond 
unto and signify things in the spiritual world. 
He denies the doctrine of atonement, or vicarious 
sacrifice, together with the doctrines of predesti- 






SWEDENBORGIANS. 25 1 



nation, unconditional election, justification by faith 
alone, the resurrection of the material body, &c. 
and in opposition thereto maintains, that man is 
possessed of free-will in spiritual things ; that sal- 
vation is not attainable without repentance, that 
is, abstaining from evils because they are sins 
against God, and living a life of charity and faith, 
according to the commandments ; that man, im- 
mediately on his decease, rises again in a spiritual 
body, which was inclosed in his material body, 
and that in this spiritual body he lives as a man 
to eternity, either in heaven or hell, according 
to the quality of his past life. 

It is further maintained by Baron Swedenborg, 
and his followers, that all those passages in the 
sacred scripture, generally supposed to signify the 
destruction of the world by fire, &c. commonly 
called the last judgment, must be understood ac- 
cording to the above-mentioned science of cor- 
respondencies, which teaches, that by the end of 
the world, or consummation of the age, is not 
signified the destruction of the world, but the 
destruction or end of the present Christian 
church, both among Roman Catholics and Pro- 
testants of every description or denomination ; 
and that the last judgment actually took place 
in the spiritual world in the year 1757; from 
which 2era is dated the second advent of the 
Lord, and the commencement of a new Christian 



■H 

church, which, I 

■• earth in 1 the 

Such are the outh Baron Swcdenborg's 

, collected from hfc voluminous 
writings. Hi numerous in England, 

■, Sweden, 8tc. aud also in A 

They use a liturgy, and instiummtal, as well a? 

worship** Mr. Proud, 
formerly a General Baptist minii 
the most popular preacher among them. He used 
to officiate at their Chapel in Hatton Garden, but 
now preaches in the vicinity of St. James' Square. 
Their ministers have a particular dress both for 
praying and preaching, so that they may be said 
to study variety. 

We shall close our list of Denominations 
with an account of that discriminating article of 
belief, which refers to the final triumphs of 
Christianity. Its advocates are not indeed a sect 
distinct from others, but their tenets prevails in a 
less or greater degree throughout almost t 
department of the religious world. 

* Almost the whole of the above account was 6ent t 
r for insertion by a gentleman of that -denomination. 






MILLENARIANS. 253 

MILLENARIANS. 

THE Millenarians are those who believe 
that Christ will reign personally on earth for a 
thousand years, and their name, taken from the 
Latin, mille> a thousand, has a direct allusion to 
the duration of this spiritual empire. " The doc- 
trine of the Millenium, or a future paradisaical 
state of the earth, (says a monthly review) is not 
of Christian but of Jewish origin. The tradition 
is attributed to Elijah, which fixes the duration of 
the world in its present imperfect condition to six 
thousand years, and announces the approach of a 
sabbath of a thousand years of universal peace and 
plenty, to be ushered in by the glorious advent of 
the Messiah ! This idea may be traced in the epis- 
tle of Barnabas, and in the opinions of Papias, 
who knew of no written testimony in its behalf. 
Jt was adopted by the author of the revelations, 
by Justin Martyr, by Iraenus, and by a long suc- 
cession of the fathers. As the theory is animat- 
ing and consolatory, and, when divested of cabal- 
istic numbers and allegorical decorations, probable 
even in the eye of philosophy, it will no doubt al- 
ways retain a number of adherents."* 

* It is somewhat remarkable, that Druidism, the religion of 
the first inhabitants of this island, had a particular reference to 
V 



u 



fj I MIL 



MlLLKMl'M has 

the tin* pul . :ito a 

short detail of it. 

Mr. J ton, 

and Mi. V 

7i of CI tb. To 

0WO words, in i >/o7W on th>* Prophc* 

* Wl :lf CO 

, of which we 

to be the proper order ; the Protest 
nesses shall be gn !, and the I 

years of their prop :, ar$ of 

the tyranny of the b< id together ; the 

conversion and restoration of tl 
then follows the ruin of the Othman 
and then the total destruction of Rome a< 
Antichrist. When these § , I 

shall come to pass, th< igdom of 

Christ commence, or the reign of the saints upon 
earth. So Dan t the 

kingdom of Chri the saints will be r 

re forms a 

• 
jl curious and in 

ri Williams, I 
j volume?. 






MILLENARIANS* 2S# 



upon the ruins of the kingdom of Antichrist, 7. 
26, 27. Bi/t the judgment? shall sit, and they 
shall take azvay his dominion to consume and 
to destroy, it unto the end : and the kingdom 
and dominiorty and the greatness of the kingdom 
under the whole heaven, shall be given to the 
people of the saints of the most High, whose 
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all 
dominion shall serve and obey him. So like- 
wise St. John saitb, that upon the final de- 
struction of the beast and the false prophet,, 
Rev. xx. Satan is bound for a thousand years / 
and I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and 
judgment was given unto them ; and I saw the 
souls of them that xvere beheaded for the witness 
of Jesus Christ and for the word of God ; which 
had not worshipped the beast, neither his image / 
neither has received the mark upon their fore- 
heads or in their hands, and they lived andr 
reigned with Christ a THOUSAND years. But 
the rest of the dead lived not again until the 
thousand years were finished. This is the first 
resurrection. It is, I conceive, to these great 
events the fall of Antichrist, the re-establishment 
of the Jews, and the beginning of the glorious 
MILLENIUM, that the three different dates in 
Daniel of 1260 years, 1290 years, and 1335 
years, are to be referred. And as Daniel saitb,. 



256 



I cometh 
Sfcst. John saith, lless- 

he first res- 
ill be 
that the 

i tills 

ail tho 

— of the am- 
plitude and ej -- I the peace and prosperity — 
of the glory and haj burch in the 

the words, 

15. Shalt tlie kingdoms of this world 

ur Lurd, and of his 

,' these i .rs of 

• Christ and thi 

llenary of the world; for as God 

ted the world in I on the 

SO the world, it jg argued, will continue 
six thou. id the seventh thous< 

>dtism or hoi e people 

of God. 0/2'' day 2 P< t. iii. 8.) being x 
the Lord, as a thousand years and a thou 

'S as one day. According to tradition too, 
of the reign of Christ and 

• S< 



MILLENARIANS. 2$7 






the saints, are the great day of judgment, in the 
morning or beginning whereof, shall be the com- 
ing of Christ in flaming fire, and the particular 
judgment of Antichrist and the first resurrection ; 
and in the evening or conclusion whereof, shall 
be the GENERAL RESURRECTION of the dead, 
small and great ; and they shall be judged 
every man according to their works."* 

This is a just representation of the Millenium? 
according to the common opinion entertained of 
it, that Christ will reign personally on earth 
during the period of one thousand years ! Bu£ 
Dr. Whitby, in a Dissertation on the subject ; 
Dr. Priestly, in his Institutes of Religion? and 
the author of the Illustrations of Prophecy^ 
contend against the literal interpretation of the 
Millenium, both as to its nature and its duration-, 
On such a topic, however, we cannot suggest 
our opinions with too great a degree of modesty,. 

* Mr. Winchester, in his lectures on the Prophecies, freely 
indulges his imagination on this curious subject, He suggests, 
that the large rivers in America are all on the eastern side, 
that the Jews may waft themselves the more easily down to 
the Atlantic, and then cross that vast ocean to the Holy Land ; 
that Christ will appear at the equinoxes (eisher March or Sep- 
tember) when the days and nights a e equal all over the globe : 
and fmally, that the body of Christ willbe luminous, and being 
suspended in the air over the equator, for twenty-four hours, 
will be seen with circumstances of peculiar glory, from pole to' 
fole, by all the inhabitants of the World ! 
V2 



258 



Di. 
adva 

of the t: \orld 

. 
and intra 

j would 
r, and the Mill t for 

► hun Wi d and six 

i will b( 
indi . luaU till ? 
that the Mi 

ion* This opinion it indeed to be 
Institutes 9 \ ago, 

rly he has inclined to th< 

11 Scrm 

! .are as to its duration is 

tut by the author of the Illustratio7ts of 

i ; but he contends that in the period 

all< d the Mi ration of 

human l ill gradually take pi 

natu 

vrill 

be found an animated ^k< tch of tl 

::.t I 



MILLENARIANS. 259 

curious particulars respecting the Millenium, and 
though the reader may not agree with him in 
many things, yet he will applaud his ingenuity. 
We will just add that the late Mr. Nathaniel 
Scarlett, at the time of his decease was preparing 
for the press a piece on the Millenium, entitled 
the Millenial Age, which was to contain all the 
passages of scripture relating to the subject — ac- 
companied with several admirably executed plates, 
by way of illustration. But his death prevents its 
publication. 

This final article of the Millenium, shall be 
closed with one observation. How r ever the Mil? 
lenarians may differ among themselves respect- 
ing the nature of this great event, it is agreed on 
all hands, that such a revolution will be effected 
in the latter days, by which vice and its attend- 
ant misery shall be banished from the earth; thus 
completely forgetting all those dissentions and an- 
imosities by which the religious world has been 
agitated, and terminating the grand drama of 
providence with UNIVERSAL FELICITY.* 

* The professors of Christianity have instituted Societies for 
the advancement of religion. There are four which deserves 
to be mentioned : 1. The Society for promoting Christian Knowl- 
edge, which erects charity schools in England and Wales, and 
distributes Bibles, Common Prayer Books, and religious tracts. 



260 MILLENARIAN 

THESE arc the divisions of human opinio 
:uch characterize th( popular departnM 

of the religious world. 1 have i )red to 

delineate them \vu tnd bn vity. Each 

system, boasts of a - y and professes to h 

I peculiar arguments and tendencies. To a 
thoughtful mind they exhibit a melancholy pic- 
ture of the human undi -lvi-.inding, misguided 
through passion, and warped with prejudice. In 
drawing out the motley catalogue, several cur- 
sory reflections arose in nay mind. A few only, 
inch as may operate as a persuasive to r< 
moderation, and tend also to the improvement of 
other Christian gw tail be submitted to the 

reader's attention. 

2. The Incorporated Society for the P> bagation f 
Foreign Parts, which takes care that the West IixLi 
and the British colonies in North America are provided * 
episcopal clergymen and schoolmasters ; 3. A 

jr Chri-l'.an Knarwledgt, designed to ba; 
orance and profaneness from the Highlands and Western 
Islands ; and, A. A - \ I 

to/; ..ting Engliih ProU:tant 

Mr. Darn 7. estimated the number 

rfD bacnleu in!:. and fifty thousand 

. iiies ; but since that period it ia b 

:ion of A' 

A SVppOM . , QTif tO 

r il gula kd 

the EfK n Inland 



REFLECTIONS.* 



I pray God to give all his ministers and people more and more 
of the Spirit of Wisdom and of lo r ue, and of a sound mind, and 
to remove far from us those mutual jealousies and animosities 
which hinder our acting with that unanimity which is neces- 
sary to the successful carrying on of our common warfare against 
the enemies of Christianity. 

Doddridge' 's Rise and Progress of Religion, 



1. SINCE the best and wisest of mankind 
thus differ on the speculative tenets of religion, 
let us modestly estimate the extent of the human 
faculties. 



* As the author has in the Seojjel, to this Sketch brought to- 
gether the testimonies of Divines of the Church of England, the 
Kirk of Scotland, and from amongst the Dissenters, in behalf 
of candor and charity, so with these reflections he has inter- 
woven the sentiments of some of the most distinguished of the 
Laity on the subject. The declarations of De Thou, Lord 
Lyttleton, Lord Chatham, together with those of Locke, Mans- 
field, and Washingtom, are entitled to particular attention. See 
a Humble Attempt to promote Union and Peace among Christians^ 
hy inculcating the principles of Christ s an Liberty. By R, 
Wright, of Wisbeach. It is a work of merit, and happily 
calculated to promote the purpose for which it has been written 
and published. 






A i 

le riulu 

f knowledge and in 

>ri8, Thifl is a i 
quence of imperfection. Human reason, 
1 d of- 

ten with ineffectual wi \s of 

speculation. Let none that this mode 

ice to tb< 
o an 1 propagation of religious truth. To 
that I to the 

ion of scep- 
m, the forbid 
the delirious fever of enti. , are equally 

abhorrent from the genius of true Ch: 
Truth being the conformity of our coj 
to the nature of things, we should be careful 
our conceptions be tinctured cron Philos- 

ophers suppose that the sense convey the most 
minute species of information : j 

4 withstanding tl are not 

I d with an infallibility. How 

• I . 
I e of our rational } which often from 

early infancy are beset v indices! 

Our n, however, proves i 

to i! . of truths 

the degrees of evidence with which they are se- 



REFLECTIONS. 263 



verally attended. This necessarily induces a 
modesty of temper, which may be fitly pro- 
nounced the ground-work of charity. Richard 
Baxter, revered for his good sense as well as 
fervent piety, has these remarkable expressions 
on the subject — " I am not so foolish as to pre- 
tend my certainty to be greater than it is, merely 
because it is a dishonour to be less certain ; nor 
will I by shame be kept from confessing those 
infirmities which those have as much as I, who 
hypocritically reproach me with them. My cer- 
tainty that I am a man, is before my certainty 
that there is a God ; my certainty that there is a 
God, is greater than my certainty that he re- 
■quireth Icve and holiness of his creature ; my 
certainty of this, is greater than my certainty of 
the life of reward and punishment hereafter ; my 
certainty of that is greater than my certainty of 
the endless duration of it, and the immortality 
of individual souls ; my certainty of the Deity, 
is greater than my certainty of the Christian 
faith, my certainty of the Christian faith in its 
essentials, is greater than my certainty of the 
perfection and infallibility of all the holy scrip- 
tures ; my certaint}^ of that is greater than my 
certainty of the meaning of any particular texts, 
and so of the truth of many particular doctrines, 
or of the canonicalness of some certain books. 
So that you see by what gradations my under- 






thai my crtainty 
And t 
tined to a .on and a 

degn 'taint y t and 

produce tin i; ••• lo he] uara- 

i ought to h i in letter! of gold. It 

1 to be * , that this accu; 

statement of the nature and degrees of be! 
duly imp on the mind tian ; 

to th< of it must be ascribed the pit 

of an ignorant and besotted bigotry. 

Reason, though imperfect, is the noblest gift of 
God, and upon no pretew I. It 

man from the wild beasts of the I 
— constitutes his resemblance to the Deity, and 
elevates him to the superiority he p<> over 

this lower creation. By Dei )lled, to 

the prejudice of revelation; and by Enthusi 

eciatedj that they might the more effectually 
impose on their votaries the absurdities of I 
lje incon ! event] 

enthusiasts condescend to employ this cahimni 
faculty in pointing out the conformity of their 

and in fabricating evidence for 
their support. But beware of speaking ligl ? 

Hi, which is emphatically d th" 

eye of the soul ! Every opprob: 

the designing dare to 
natize it, vilifies t. or. Circumscribed, 



REFLECTIONS. 2o5 



indeed, are its operations, and fallible are its deci- 
sions. That it is incompetent to investigate cer- 
tain subjects which our curiosity may essay to pen- 
etrate, is universally acknowledged. Its exten- 
sion, therefore, beyond its assigned boundaries, 
has proved an ample source of error. Thus 
Mr. Colliber, an ingenious writer, imagines 
in his treatise, entitled, The Knoxdedge of God, 
that the Deity must have some form, and inti- 
mates it may probably be spherical ! ! Indeed 
it has generated an endless list of paradoxes, 
and given birth to those monstrous systems of 
metaphysical theology, which are the plague of 
wise men, and the idol of fools. Upon many 
religious topics, which have tried and tortured our 
understandings, the sacred writers are respect- 
fully silent. Where they cease to inform us we 
should drop our enquires; except we claim 
superior degrees of information, and proudly 
deem ourselves more competent to decide on these 
intricate subjects. 

The primitive Christians, in some of their 
councils, elevated the New Testament on a 
throne — thus intimating their concern, that by 
that volume alone their disputes should be finally 
determined. The great president, De Thou, re- 
marks " that the sword of the word of God ought 
to be the sole weapon — and those who are no 
longer to be compelled should be quietly attracted 
W 



* 



266 PLECTH 



rate consideration! and a 

2. The diversity of religious implies 

no reflection upon th ipture to 

instruct us in matters of faith and practice, and 
should not, therefore, be made a pretence for 
uncharitableness. 

Controversies are frequently agitated concern- 
ing words rather than this This is to be 
ascribed chiefly to the ambiguity of language, 
which has been a fertile source of ecclesiastical 
animosities. But there is not in the world such 
a multitude of opinions as superficial observers 
;nay imagine. A common gazer at the starry 
firmament conceives the stars to be innumerable : 
hut the astronomer knows their number to be 
limited — nay, to be much smaller than a vulgar 

would apprehend. On the subjects of reli- 
gion, many men dream rather than think — im- 
agine rather than believe. Were the intellect of 

v individual awake, and presLrvcd in vigor- 
ous exercise, similarity of i Qt would be 
much more prevalent. But mankind will not 
think, and hence thinking ha 
L ' one of the I d privileges of cultivated 
humanity." It uni ns that the 
idle flights indulged by enthusiasts — the burden- 

.vorldly- minded pro 



REFLECTIONS. 267 



fessors, are charged on the scriptures of truth, 
Whereas the inspired volume is fraught with ra- 
tional doctrines — equitable precepts — and immac* 
ulate rules of conduct. Fanciful accommoda- 
tions — distorted passages-— false translations — and- 
forced analogies, have been the despicable means 
employed to debase the Christian doctrine* 
A calm and impartial investigation of the word 
of God raises in our minds conceptions worthy 
the perfections of Deity — suitable to the circum- 
stances of mankind, and adapted to purify and-- 
exalt our nature : 

Religion's lustre is by native innocence^ 

Divinely pure and simple from ail arts ; 

You daub and dress her like a common mistress — 

The harlot of your fancies ! and by adding 

False beauties, which she wants not, make the world 

Suspect her angel face is foul beneath, 

And will not bear all lights ! 

The papists deprive their laity of the scrip- 
ture, by restraining its use, and denying its 
sufficiency. The same reason also was as- 
signed to vindicate the necessity of an infallible 
head to dictate in religious matters, Notwith- 
standing these devices to produce unanimity of 
sentiment, they were not more in profession of 
it than the Protestants. The sects, which at 
different periods sprang up in the bosom, and 
disturbed the tranquility of the Catholic churchy 






I 
• 
•houfc idate 

the jc tii( 

of holy w L< 

of sentiment be alledged, for it d^ 

m the scriptures then , but in* the 

the and 'ig — in the rreedom 

of the will — in the pride of passion— i the 

inveteracy of prejudice . 
are expert in observing what may be i 
into an objection led religion, 

declaim loudly on this topic. On account of 
the diversity of sentiment which obtains, they 
charge the Bible with beiri£ defective in a species 
of intelligence it never pretended to communis 
Unincumbered with human additions, and un- 
contaminated v\ith foreign mixtures, it furnishes 
the believer with that information which illu- 
minates the understanding — meliorates the temper 
— invigorates the moral feelings, and iropn 
the heart All scripture given by 
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof for cor- 
rection, for instruction in righted . that 

man of God may be perfect, tii 

nto all good works. " lit 
Hell are not more distant (says Lord L 
tliitii . Ql spirit of tin I the 

The i) ware 



REFLECTIONS. 269 



ever made were called holy wars. He who hates 
another man for not being a christian is himself 
not a christian. Christianity breathes love and 
peace and good will to men, 

3. Let not any one presume to exempt himself 
from an attention to religion, because some of 
its tenets seem involved in difficulties* 

Upon articles which promote the felicity, and 
secure the salvation of mankind, the scripture 
is clear and decisive* The curiosity of the 
inquisitive, and the restlessness of the ingenious^ 
have involved some subjects of theological dis- 
quisition in obscurity. Dr Paley^ speaking 
of the disputes which distract the religious world, 
happily remarks, " that the rent has not reached 
the foundation." Incontrovertible are the facts 
upon which the fabric of natural and revealed 
religion is reared ; and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it ! He who seriously and 
dispassionately searches the scriptures, must con- 
fess that they teach, in explicit terms, that God 
rules over all — that man is fallen from his prime- 
val rectitude — that the Messiah shed his blood for 
his restoration — and that in a future state rewards 
await the righteous, and punishments will be 
inflicted on the wicked. 

From the preceding sketch of the different 
opinions of Christians, it appears that contro- 
versies have been chiefly agitated concerning the 
W2 



I 



m of I - of th< 

favour — 

But wbtt w 

Not \vh- hrist ha 

h to introduce a n ; nor . 

ther 

towards fallen man ; nor whether the pi 
iigion ought to submit t. 

, for mutual 
benefit. These are truths revered by every de- 
nomination, and the only point of contention has 

articular views are to be entert 
of these interesting fi Bhc Trinitarian, the 

Arian, and the Socinian, equally acknowledge 
the d of Christ's mission, or that he 

the Messiah predicted by the ancient prop! 
and the chief point of dispute ther this 

be a man highly inspired — or one of 
the angelic order — or a bein i of the 

attributes of I) t\ . T Arm* 

man, an each of them firmly 

believes that the grace of God hath appfared, 
and differ only f its 

tmmunication. Sim- 
rvations might be to the 

• 
•tration o 

. v the d. . 



REFLECTIONS. 271 



tvveen Christians do not aifect the truth of Chris- 
tianity, nor hazard the salvation of mankind. 

Faint indeed is the light thrown by revelation 
on certain subjects. Yet no lover of righteous- 
ness need distress himself, whether he be mistaken 
in leading a life of virtue and piety. Practical 
religion lies within a narrow compass. The say- 
ings of Christ embrace almost every part of 
human conduct, though his disciples have been 
lamentably deficient in. paying them a proper at„ 
tention. Jesus Christ assures us, that to love 
the Lord our God with all our hearts , is the 
Jirst and great commandment — and that the 
second is like unto it — to love our neighbour as 
ourselves. They entertain mistaken views of the 
gloi*iou$ gospel 9 . who consider it inimical to the 
prosperity of the human race. Descending, from 
a God, of love, and presented to us by his 
only begotten Son — every mind should have 
opened for its reception. Wrangling should 
have been prevented by the clearness of its fun- 
damental doctrines,, hesitation about obedience 
precluded by the justice of its precepts, and the 
beauty of its examples should * have captivated the 
most indifferent hearers. 

The perplexity, in which some religious tenets 
are involved, instead of- alienating us from the 
practice of righteousness^ should, quicken our 



i 



272 FLITTIONS. 



enquiries after truth. Indeed* upon a serious 
and intelligent individual, it products this effect 
Raring in his eve tin only 

standard, he more alive to fi lirvv 

when he contemplates the diversity of religious 

ins ; and more accurately scrutinize! their 
natur their foundation.-, and a 

their tendencies. This mode of arriving at truth,. 
is attended with advantages. Our knowledge 

alarg d — oar candour established — and our 
belief founded on the basis of conviction. Such 
a believer reflects an honour upon the denomina- 
tion with which he connects him 
ing the difficulties of religious \ ition, he 

presumes not to charge with heresy those of his 
fellow Christians who differ from him ; nor is 
he such a stranger to the perfections of the 
Deity, and to the benign spirit of gion, 

as to consign them over to the regions of future 

ry. Of Mr. Gouge, an eminent Noncon- 
formist minister, it is thus honorably : 
by the great and good Archbishop on — 

" He allowed others to differ from I n in 

opinions that were very dear to him, and 
vided men did but fear God, and iv^rk r/ 
uusness, he loved them heartily, how distant so- 

from him in judgment about th 
necessary ; in all winch he is V4 ry worthy to be 
a pattern to men of all persuasions." And Lor<t 



REFLECTIONS. 273 



Chatham has observed — " It is said that religious 
sects have done great mischief, when they were 
not kept under restraint ; but history affords no 
proof that sects have ever been mischievous, when 
they were not oppressed and persecuted by the 
ruling church." 

4. Let us reflect with pleasure in how many 
important articles of belief all Christians are 
agreed. 

Respecting the origin of evil, the nature of 
the human soul, the existence of an intermediate 
state, and the duration of future punishment to- 
gether with points of a similar kind, opinions 
have been, and in this imperfect state will ever 
contiuue to be different. But on articles of faith, 
far more interesting in themselves, and far more 
conducive to our welfare, are not all Christians 
united! We all believe in the perfections and 
government of one God — in the degradation of 
human nature through transgression — in the un- 
speakable utility of the life, death, and sufferings 
of Jesus Christ — in the assurance of the divine 
aid — in the necessity of exercising repentance, 
and of cultivating holiness — in a resurrection from 
the dead— and in a future state of rewards and 
punishment. Cheerfully would I enter into a 
minute illustration of this part of the subject; 
but the devout and intelligent Dr. Price has dis- 
cussed it, in his first sermon on the Christian 



5 



274 



Doc 

recommend it to 

10\V wh. 

t embel- 
lishments of r light- 

kl b compatible with religious mod 
tion, which i particularly opposed to the 

furious spirit of uncharitable 

of genuine Christianity. From the ihy and 

taut 

all, 
would with difficulty be brought to that 

; to the same God — confided in the 
same .saviour — and \. iding their 

wards- the same state of future To 

me, often has the C! the ap- 

.nce of a .subdued country, portioned out into 
ible districts, through and 

ambition of its CO] I oc- 

cupied in retarding each ot . Alas ! 

what would the j / Peace say, v 

to descend and sojourn among us ! Would he 
not i our unhallowed warmth — upbraid 

ith our divisions — chide our i. tempers 

— and exhort to amity and concord ? u This 
antipathy to your fellow Christians," would he 



REFLECTIONS. 275 



say, u is not the effect of my religion, but pro- 
ceeds from the want of it. My doctrines, pre- 
cepts, and example, have an opposite tendency. 
Had you learned of me> you would have never 
uttered against your brethren terms of reproach, 
nor lifted up the arm of persecution. The new 
commandment I gave unto you was — That you 
love one another." 

The ingenious Mr. Seed (a clergyman) ob- 
serves, x< Our own particular darling tenets, by 
which we are distinguished from the bulk of 
Christians, we look upon as our private inclo- 
sures, our private walks, in which we have pro- 
perty exclusive of others, and which we take care 
to cultivate, beautify, and fence in against all 
invaders. To the received notions, however im- 
portant^ we are more indifferent, as the common 
field and public walks, which lie open to every 
body.'" Were the professors of the Gospel once 
fully sensible how they coincide on the funda- 
mental facts of natural and revealed religion, they 
would cherish with each other a more friendly 
intercourse, unite more cordially to propagate 
religion both at home and abroad, and a superior 
degree of success would crown their combined 
exertions for the purpose. Much is it regretted 
that disputes have generally been agitated con- 
cerning unessential points, and with an acrimony 
diametrically opposite to the Gospel of Jesus 



I 



276 



•:. That contr If injurious 

1 will insinuate. 
I with al uidor, light 

andinfon ^ subjects, has been 

communicated to the public. But alas ! contro- 
been | *1 purposes. To 

t ngaged in theological dis 
victory, not truth, api cen the ob- 

4 pursuit. Seduced by unworthy mot 
-rved from the line of condi 
by an apostle, and contended boisterously rather 
than j y for the faith once delivered to 

IS* Fiery controversialists, hurr 
by impt mousness of temper, or exasperated by 
the opposition of an acute and pertinacious adver- 
sary, have disgraced the polemic page by oppro- 
brious terms and ungenerous insinuations. Thus 
are infidels furnished with an additional objection 
to revealed religion — the investigation of int< . 
ing truth ten in mutual reproaches ; and 

Christians of different still 

farther from each other, are the less fitted to 
together in the common mansions of 
! To this pernicious mode of agitating 
dispute.-, there, are, how. cceptkms ; and in- 

cei of this kind might be adduced. In the de- 
iiity, and in the support of its par- 
tlar doctrines, writers have stood forth, \ 



REFLECTIONS. 277 

temper and liberality breathe the genuine spirit of 
the Christian Religion. Doddridge's Letters to the 
Author of Christianity not founded in argument, 
Bishop Watson's Reply to Gibbon, and Camp- 
bell's Answer to Hume on Miracles, are ex- 
amples of the candour with which religious 
controversies should be invariably conducted. In 
an enlightened age like the present, this concili- 
ating spirit was to be expected ; and we indulge 
the pleasing hope, that times still more auspicious 
to truth are approaching, when the amicable dis- 
cussion of every doctrine supposed to be contain- 
ed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall obtain an 
universal prevalence : 

Seize upon truth where'er 'tis found, 
Among your friends — among your foes, 

On Christian or on Heathen ground, 
The flower's divine where'er it grows, 
Neglect the prickles and assume the rose. 

Watts. 

** No way whatsoever," says the immmortal 
Locke, " that I shall walk in against the dictates 
of my conscience, will ever bring me to the 
mansions of the blessed. I may grow rich 
by an art that I take no delight in — I may be 
cured of some disease by remedies I have no faith 
in, but I cannot be saved by a religion that I dis- 
trust, and a worship that I abhor. It is in vain for 
an unbeliever to take up the outward shadow of 
X 



278 

taotl id inward 

y are tl< tance 

with G 

TRUTH, indeed, moral and divine, floui i 
only in the soil of freedom. Then ts up 

and sheds its fruits for the healing of tin 
Civil and religious liberty arc two of the greatest 
earthly blessings which v on 

man. Thrice happy are the people who e\ 
ence the benefits of good gc :it, unburden- 

ed by the impositions of oppression, and who en- 
joy the of liberty, unembittertd by anar- 
chy and licentiousness. 

5. We should allow to others the same right 
of private judgment in religious matter?, which 
we claim and exercise ourselves. 

It is replied — <* We forbid not the sober use 
of this privilege.'' But who can i the 

sobrirty of another man's speculations ? and by 
reprobating the opinions which a serious brother 
' rtain in consequence of 
ligation, we tacitly condemn ti. tion 

of his mind which induced him to take up 
tenets. This is the spirit of Popery in disguise. 
Cautiously exercising his reason, and devoutly 
uning the sacred records, let every ma, 
i persuaded in his oun mind. T 
dvjee of Paul to tl 
and i)o substantial reason lias to i 



REFLECTIONS. 270 



will be given for its being abandoned. For a 
Protestant, who demands and exercises the right 
of private judgment, to deny it to his brother, is 
an unpardonable inconsistency. It is also an act 
of injustice, and, therefore, contrary to reason^ 
condemned by revelation, and prejudicial to the 
best interests of mankind. He who insults your 
person, steals your property, or injures your repu- 
tation, subjects himself to the punishment which 
the law denounces against such offences. What 
then can we think of the man who attempts to 
rob you of the right of private judgment — a 
jewel of inestimable price — a blessing of the first 
magnitude ! Were we once to relinquish think- 
ing for ourselves, and indolently to acquiesce in 
the representations of others, our understandings 
might soon groan beneath the absurdities of other 
men's creeds, and our attention be distracted by 
the perplexed nature of our religious services. 
Hitherto, persons have never been wanting un- 
reasonable enough to impose on their brethren 
articles of faith. The late Mr. Robinson, of 
Cambridge, an avowed foe to ecclesiastical tyran- 
ny, has traced its sources with his usual acuteness^ 
and pronounces them to be power — law — patron- 
age — office — the abuse of learning, and mistaken 
piety. These pretences for domination over con^ 
science are plausible, and by their speciousness 
millions have been deceived. But explain to a 



' 



:tion 
and thi 

authorized do riiaii I 

I 

it : 

Lei lues be ever paj 

To Cxszr an i e ; 

But and Mtt/j were mai!e, 

To 1 

Watts. 

To use the language of th ll'ash- 

n — " It affords aspects inde< 

see Christians of , dwell 

together in more charity, and conduct th 
in respect to each other with a more Chrii 
like spirit, than ever they have done in any for- 
mer age !" 

Why even of yourselves judge ye not what 
is right t was the language in which Christ 
reproached the Pharisees ; and prove all th 
was Pau. irtation to the church at T 

salonica. These p alone pre 

yond the possibility of dispute, that both 
Christ and Paul were patrons of 
quiry. Free enquii n in its fa 

tent, lias been found ible to the intc 

ton* H« ror ceases to be pt . 



REFLECTIONS. 282 

uated, and truth emerges from those shades of 
darkness with which she has been enveloped 
by the artful and designing. Survey the 
page of ecclesiastical history — mark the in- 
tervals of languor, when the right of private 
judgment lay dormant — then was the church of 
Christ debilitated and pestered with an heteroge- 
neous mass of errors. Excellently is it remarked 
in a periodical publication — " No man can write 
down truth. Inquiry is to truth what friction is 
to the diamond. It proves its hardness — adds to 
its lustre — and excites new admiration.'* The 
ablest advocates for Christianity confess, that by 
the attacks of its enemies provoking examination^ 
it has been benefited rather than injured. To in- 
fidel writers we are indebted for Butler's profound- 
Analogy. — Law's Theory of Natural and Re- 
vealed Religion — Campbell's Dissertation on 
Miracles — Newton's Work on the Prophecies — - 
Watson's Apology for the Bible — and other per- 
formances, which reflect as much honour on the 
names of their respective authors, as they have 
rendered service to the cause they espoused, 
u Every species of intolerance," says Arch- 
deacon Paley, a which enjoins suppression 
and silence, and every species of persecution 
which inforces such injunctions, is averse to the 
progress of truth, forasmuch as it causes that to 
be fixed by one set of men at one time, which is 
X 2 



• 



much ;nul with much more probability 

of , left to tl progress 

Truth 
fa 

gated by the labovr and ate 

persons ; whatever therefore proh ob- 

ucts that industry and that liberty, which it 

commo nkind to pro; 

" 0. Let us be careful to treat I bo diiTcr 

from i \\ ith kindn 

Believing those who differ from us to be 
the di of error, they have a claim on 

our con d. And as a further incentive to a 

lenient conduct, it should be i I, that 

we differ from them just as much as they do 
from us. By either party, therefore, no anathe- 
ma should be hurled, and a proneness to per- 
secution should be eradicated. The Quakers, in 
their address to James the Second, on his ac- 
cession, told him, that they understood I no 
more of the established religion than themselves : 
if We therefore hope (say th« thou wilt 
allow us that liberty which thou takest thyself." 
Th schism and heresy are in the mouths 
of many j ^d it is wo (infrequent case to find that 
those who use them most, least understand their 
jrt. Dr. Campbell (who favoured 
iblic with an » ition of 
Four Gospels) thus concludes a learned disserta- 






REFLECTIONS. 283 



tion on the subject : " No person (says he) who 
in the spirit of candour and charity adheres to 
that which, to the best of his judgment is right, 
though in this opinion he should be mistaken, is 
in the scriptural sense either schismatic or here- 
tic : and he, on the contrary, whatever sect he 
belongs to, is more entitled to those odious ap- 
pellations who is most apt to throw the imputa- 
tion upon others." Would to God, that this ob- 
servation were engraven on the memory of every 
individual in Christendom!* 

Upon the advantages arising from Christian 
moderation we might largely expatiate, and to 
detail the evils which have flown from an unen- 
lightened and furious zeal, would be to stain my 
page with blood. Bishop Hall, in the last centu- 
ry, wrote a treatise on moderation, and has dis- 
cussed the subject with that eloquence and ability 



* Having had the honour of attending the lectures both of 
Dr. Campbell and Dr. Gerard > at Aberdeen, in the year 1790, 
the author takes this opportunity of expressing his obligation 
for the instruction received on many important topics ; and 
particularly for that amiable spirit of candour •, which induced 
them fairly to state opposite opinions, and never to discover 
the least trait of uncharitableness, which is the disgrace 
of Christianity. The Spanish proverb says, 4i To parents — to 
teachers — and to God, all sujficknt, we cannot indulge too much 
gratitude." 



« 






r to all his 

(Is the < 

■ 
oliUry { 

• 

church, in ! e at 

art thou 
cd in the i>lor- 

able .in inco: , ionic! not 

the n 

by indulg rhtcst degree a 

of intolerance fed cither to 

adopt or applaud practi, 

mask of an holy zeal, outrage the first prin- 
ciples of humanity ? To love our oivn party o 
is (to use the words of the Qt Dr. D. 

than self-love reflected. The . 
zealous p y therefore, arc revelling in 

gratific 

Chi indeed, of almost every denomi- 

nati<> to have forgotten, that 

lens r.it aehes 

of sentiment may have ( 
d. Coersive measures rcaeh n< 
and the i to extort assent 

lative tenets, as the bombast of i il .rity. 



REFLECTIONS. 28l 



Truth rests on evidence. But what has evidence 
to do with exertions of power, implements of 
torture, and scenes of devastation ? From the 
commencement of the fourth century, down to 
that illustrious yera of the reformation, wide and 
unmolested was the empire of ignorance over 
the human mind. At Rome, for a series of ages, 
the chair of infallibility was filled by a suc- 
cession of intolerant and domineering Pon- 
tiffs. Systems of cruelty were devised and prac- 
tised, for the support of their most holy faith* 
Out of that once respectable capital of the 
world, the demon of persecution rushed forth, 
brandished his torch, and deluged the church of 
Christ with the blood of her martyrs. Impa- 
tient for the destruction of the human race, he 
flew into different regions of the earth, framed 
racks, fixed stakes, erected gibbets, and, like a 
pestilence, scattered around him consternation 
and death ! Shall the mild and evangelical genius 
of Protestantism countenance a temper which 
incites to such execrable deeds, and enrolls the 
names of the perpetrators in the callendar of the 
saints ? In this twilight state of being, to ex- 
postulate is our province, to inveigh and per- 
secute is forbidden. The glorious Gospel of the 
blessed God prohibits rash accusations, cruel 
surmises, and malignant anathemas. Had a 



< 



ISA REFLECT! « 



regard been paid to the golden ru! unto 

others as ye would they shou mto you, 

intolerance would never ha-. • nsan- 

guined en. t to aiFright the children of DH ) e 

know not what manner of spirit ye are of— 
our Saviour's reprimand to the disciples, i 
in the plenitude of their zeal, would have called 
down lire from heaven to consume the deluded 
Samaritans. Too often doe8 a portion of this 
accursed spirit reign in the breasts of Protectants. 
Hence censures are poured forth, hatreds are 
engendered, and a preparation for heaven is re- 
tarded. Instead, therefore, of usurping the seat 
of judgment, which the Almighty has exclu- 
sively reserved to himself, and of aiming to be- 
come the dispensers of the divine vengeance, let 
us wait the issue of all things, in deep and r 
ential silence, A w T ise and a good God will 
solemnly decide the business, when he judges 
the world in righteousn< 

7. Let us not repine because perfect unanin 
of religious sentiment is unattainable in this 
sent state. 

A repining spirit is the source of ill temper to- 
wards those who dissent from us ; but it seems to 
be the intention of the Divine Being, that we 
should think differently concerning certain points 
of faith and practice. Variety marks the works 
of God. It is impressed throughout the circum- 



REFLECTIONS. 287 



ference of the natural, the animal, and the intel- 
lectual world. Above us, we behold the dazzling 
brightness of the sun, the pale splendour of the 
moon, the mild twinkling of the stars, and the 
variegated colours which adorn the firmament of 
heaven ! Around us, the surface of the earth is 
diversified into a thousand beautiful forms, and 
in the animal, the vegetable, and the fossil king, 
doms, no two individual productions are perfectly 
alike ! Within us, upon the slightest examina- 
tion, we discern our minds stamped with an ori- 
ginal peculiarity. From senseless idiotism, up 
to the sagacity of Newton, how numerous are 
the gradations of intellect ! Minds are of various 
sizes. Their capacities, habits, and views, are 
never in strict conformity with each other. In 
some degree, therefore, diversity of opinion 
flows from the structure of our understanding. 
To fall out with this branch of the dispensations 
of God is to arraign his wisdom. Doubtless he 
might have shed upon us such a degree of 
light, that we should have seen as with one eye, 
and have been altogether of one mind. But 
the Supreme Being has otherwise ordered it ; 
and with becoming resignation let us acquiesce 
in the propriety of the appointment. *' If it must 
be with us (says good Bishop Hall) as with two 
famous rivers in the East, that they run three- 
score miles together in.pxie channel,, with their 



< 



RFFf.FCTJO 



.\ ided in 
vet ! thout i 

with in modern times Lord 

t, that luminary of the law declare! that, 
" Th< inly more \ 

I with tl of human na- 

ture, more contrary to the spirit and precepts of 
the Christian religion, more iniquitous and un 
more impolitic than Prrsrcution ! It is ag 
natural religion, revealed religion, and sound 
policy \ n 

Innumerable and unavailable have been the at- 
tempts made in the successive ages of the church 
to produce unanimity of scnti77irnt. For this 
purpose legislatures have decreed acts, poured 
forth torrents of blood, and perpetrated deeds at 
which humanity sickens, shudders, and turns 
away with disgust. Francis the First, king of 
France, used to declare, " that if he thought 
the blood in his arm was tainted with the Lu- 
theran heresy, he would have it cut off, and 
that he would not spare even his own chil- 
dren, if they entertained sentiments contrary to 
the Catholic Church." Pride in one person, pas- 
sion in a second, prejudice in a third, and in a 
fourth investigation, generates difference of opi- 
nion. Should diversity be deemed an evil, it is 
incumbent on rational beings, and congenial with 
the dignity of the Christian profession, to im- 



REFLECTIONS, 289 



prove it to valuable purposes. It is a fact, that 
different denominations have, in every age of the 
church,, kept a jealous eye over each other ; and 
hereby the scriptures, the common standard to 
which they appealed for the truth of their re- 
spective tenets, have been preserved in greater 
purity. It m»y also be added, that diversity of 
opinion quickens our enquiries after truth, and 
gives scope for the exercise of our charity, which 
in one passage of the sacred writings is pro- 
nounced superior to faith and hope, and in an- 
other passage termed the bond of perfectness. 
Much improvement have good men extracted 
from the common evils of life, by these evils 
giving rise to graces and virtues which other- 
wise, perhaps, would have had no existence ; or 
at least, would have been faintly called forth into 
action. To perceive the justice of this observa- 
tion, it is not necessary that we be profound con- 
templators of human affairs. 

Under the accumulated difficulties of faith and 
practice, by which we are embarassed in this 
sublunary state of imperfection, we should medi- 
tate on the doctrine of a providence, which ad- 
ministers the richest consolation. The dominion 
exercised by the Supreme Being over the works 
of his hands, is neither partial as to its objects, 
narrow in its extent, nor transitory in its duration. 
Unlike earthly monarchs, who expire in their 
Y 



290 LFCTIO 

turn, and who are sue mto the 

tombs of their idc< ig of Saints 

th and r r and ever ! I 

indeed, bare entered still continue 

to d, But t | ' m to 

tin Byttem unknown to its great Author ; and the 
attributes of Deit < s their extirpation. Our 

rejoicing is — the Lord Cod omnipotent r 
Glorious, therefore, must be the termination of 
the divine dispensations. The august period is 
predicted in sacred writ, and lies concealed in 
the womb of time. Distant may be its an 
but its blessings once realized, will comper 
the exercise of your faith, and the trial of your 
fatience : 

*' One part, one little part, we dimly scan, 
Thro' the dark medium of life's fev'rish dream, 
Yet dare arraign the whole stupendous plan, 
If but that little part incongruous seem ; 
Kor is that part perhaps what mortals deem : 
Oft from apparent ills our b essings rise — 
O ! then renounce that impious self-esteem, 
That aims to trace the secrets of the skies ; 
For thou art but of dust — be humble and be nvise.' 1 

Bkatth. 

The Dissertations of Dr. Price (especially that 
on Providence) are deserving of attention. An 
elegant little work, also, entitled, Intimations 
and Evidences of a Future State, by T. Watson, 



REFLECTIONS. 291 



cannot fail of imparting consolation to the serious 
mind. 

Finally — penetrated with a sense of the im- 
perfection of this present life, let us be cautious 
how we form our religious sentiments, watch 
unremittingly over our tempers and conduct, 
and aspire to that better world, where pure and 
unadulterated truth shall be disclosed to our 
view ! 

Of all the subjects presented to the human 
Bind, religion claims the first and the greatest 
attention. If there be a God, a Providenee, a 
Saviour, and a Future State of Retribution, 
these weighty truths ought to be pressing upon 
our minds, and presiding over our conduct. To 
familiarize otirselves with their evidences, to lay 
open our souls to their energy, and promote, by 
every honourable method, their spread and 
establishment among mankind, should be our 
ambition. Zeal is an elevated and an useful 
passion. It is forcibly and repeatedly enjoined 
in the sacred writings. It forms the leading 
trait of excellence in the best and most enlight- 
ened characters. Indeed, an individual can 
scarcely be pronounced truly good, except he 
possesses a portion of this celestial fire. But let 
us be careful that our warmth be temperate 
and regular. Zeal, confined within the limits 
prescribed by reason and scripture, is attended 



< 






Loosened from 

it invoh 

ittion 

influenced bj 

nom 

consci me not 

good R I do not slight or- 

thodox'jy nor lose 

the { // in pious or seem- 

The slanders of some of 1 1 
and the opprobrious F others, 

more effectually done the vice, 

under the name of orthodoxy and zeal for truth* 
that the malignant scorners of godliness." Thus 
also the pious Matthew Henry declares, that 
of all the Christian ; -ZEAL is most 

cpt to turn sovr. And Dr. Doddridge, in hk 
Family Expositor, has this remark — " Wisely 
did Christ silence the suspicious praises of an 
unclean spirit ; and vain is all the hope, which 
men build merely on those orthodox profes> 
of the most important truths, in which Satan 
himself could vie with them." May these ob- 

itions be remembered by zealots of c- 
scription ! 

Indeed, the light and darkness now blende 



REFLECTIONS. 293 



together, instead of generating a spirit of scepti- 
cism, or precipitating us into acts of violence, 
should impel us to look for the new heavens and 
the new earth, wherein divelleth righteousness* 
What ye knoiv not now, ye shall know hereaf- 
ter, was our Saviour's declaration to his dis- 
ciples, respecting an event which occurred 
whilst he continued to sojourn amongst them* 
It is, therefore, reasonable to believe that we 
shall not remain ignorant of matters of superior 
importance, when the proper period of commu- 
nicating higher degrees of information arrives. 
We may, however, be assured, that the Spirit 
of God guides all good men into necessary 
truth. This is a sentiment in which the wisest 
of mankind concur ; and upon which learned 
divines, after their most penetrative researches, 
are obliged ultimately to rest. A venerable and 
distinguished Christian father pronounced the 
greatest heresy to be a wicked life* Devoutly 
is it wished that those who are clamorous about 
speculative tenets, would level their artillery 
more against the violation of the preceptive part 
of our religion. 

The eloquent Saurin pointedly exclaims— 
t4 Why are not ecclesiastical bodies as rigid and 
severe against heresies of practice as they are 
against heresies of speculation ? Certainly there 
are heresies in morality as well as in theology, 
Y2 



9M 



Councils and faith 

to certain prepositional point ana- 

11 who refuse to sul 

divinity of ( » not 

union, and the mj 
cross ; ( 
operations of grace, and the irn cacy 

of the Spirit. I wish ti- 
ns against mora 
then td among our p. 

rvations urin, re 

the refugee Pr< , are 

nppl ; in oui time \. T 

anathemas are directed more ag or than 

against unrighteousness. V the 

more formidable enemy to the welfare of mankind. 
To the word of God, therefore, con- 

I recourse, iao\ thence derive the doct 
which is according to godliness 3 pure as the light 

Hom- 
ing ! T under- 
stood and cor us the mind 
— ca! de- 

introdu into the 

irits of just node 

ling 



REFLECTIONS. 205 



fluence over the several departments of conduct, 
are occupied in schemes of interested ambition, 
or sunk into criminal indifference. Upon death 
they seldom bestow a serious thought. Though 
awful in its nature, frequent in its recurrence, 
and alarming in its consequences, it leaves on 
their minds no impression. Without emotion 
they behold their fellow-creatures snatched from 
off the busy theatre of action, and driven, one af- 
ter another, either by disease or accident, into 
the house appointed for all living ! Upon the 
decease indeed of relatives and friends, they 
heave a sigh, utter an exclamation, shed a tear, 
but clothing themselves in the garments of sor- 
row, the tragedy is quickly over. Re-assuming 
their former views, and laying their minds open 
afresh to the dominion of their passions, they 
return with avidity to the occupations and amuse- 
ments of life. Thus proceeds the tenor of their 
existence on earth, till they also are swept away 
into the receptacles of the dead. But why are 
men thus forgetful of their destination ? Why 
lose sight of the end for which their benevo- 
lent Creator breathed into their nostrils the 
breath of life ? Why not be making diligent 
preparation for the hour of dissolution, which 
closes the scene of their activity, and terminates 
their state of trial ? 



29b 



are 
w more 

re the tribunal of H 

which shall tx 
Btituted at t great day, u for which all 

other da; a of in fi 

importance, and intimately CO] rational 

and accountable creatures. Amidst the din of 
controversy, and the jarrings of adverse par- 

. the opinions of the head are often substi- 
tuted for the virtues of the heart, and thus is 
practical religion deplorably neglected. Flee- 
ing, therefore, those perniei putes, which 
damp our devotion, and contract our benevo- 
lence, let us cultivate the means by which our 
faith may be invigorated, our hope enlivened, 
our charity confirmed, and our affections 
vated to the things which are above, where 
Christ sitteth at the right hand of God ! 
The veil now thrown over the preliminary 
state, and concealing from o;: 
objects, shall be speedily removed. Then bid- 
ding adieu to prejudices which darken the 
understanding, irritate the temper, and deform 
I Bpiritj we shall embrace each other with 
} ect love, and shall be astonished 
for having been on earth so addicted to unpn 
able disputations, and so backward to 



REFLECTIONS. 297 

■of brotherly kindness:, and of Christian charity. 
We shall, indeed, be ready to exclaim m the 
words of holy Mr. Baxter — " Where are noxv our 
different judgments, reproachful names, divided 
spirits, exasperated passions, strange looks, and 
uncharitable censures ? Now we are all of one 
judgment, of one name, of one heart, house, 
and glory ! O sweet reconciliation ; Happy uni- 
on ! Now the Gospel shall no more be dishonour- 
ed by our folly !" 

Almighty God ! look down on thine erring 
creatures. Pit} 7 their darkness and imperfection. 
Direct them into the truth as it is in Jesus. 
Banish from their hearts the bitterness of censure. 
Cherish in their minds a spirit of moderation and 
love towards their fellow Christians. To their 
zeal add knowledge, and to their knowledge 
charity. Make them humble under the difficul- 
ties which adhere to their faith, and patient under 
the perplexities which accompany their practice. 
Guide them by thy counsel, and, through the 
mediation of thy Son Jesus Christ, receive them 
into thy kingdom and glory. 

The Work shall conclude with a Recapitulatory 
Table, drawn up with a view of impressing its 
contents on the minds of the Rising Generation* 



RECAPITULATORY TABLE, 

THE ORIGIN OF THX 

WORLD /tBK I I HID. 

CHRIST J 

i 

■ 

d (JcntiUs. 
Its Projessirs bold . j/?i are tbk 

I. 

According to their opinions respecting - 

TRINITARIANS, from the latin word Xri 
notes a threefold unity in the Godhead. 

SABELXiIANS, irom S - who lived in the third centu- 
ry, and held a modal or nominal Trinity. 

AR' m Arius, a popular divine of Alexandria, who 

flourished about the year 315. 

SO l [NIANS, from Fcustus Soci/ius : who died mar Cracow, 
in Poland about the year 1004. 

II. 

According to their opinions respecting the means and mear. 
Goaf* j I. 

CALVINISTS, from John Calxin, a Reformer, who flourish- 
ed at Geneva about 1540. 

ARM I MANS, from James Arminiu:, the disciple of E 
who flourished about 1 

rj Baxter, an eminent Pi::- 
who d . 

A \ riNOMl \ N s . from two Greek terms, **Ti against, and 

\ou.o$ the moral law. 

III. 

According to their opinions reap : urch Grvernment and 

the A J mints, ration oj < 

PAPISTS from the Latin v\ord for Pope, Papa, signifying 

:icr, or Parent. 



RECAPITULATORY TABLE. 299 



CREEK CHURCH, from their native !anguage,which is 
the Greek tongue. 

PROTESTANTS, from their protesting against a decree of 
Charles the Fifth, 1529. 

EPISCOPALIANS, from Episcopal the Latin term for 
Bishop or Inspector, of a Diocese. 

DISSENTERS, from the Latin word dissentio, to disagree 
with, or dissent from any Person or Body. 

PRESBYTERIANS, from the Greek npo-fivlipos signifying 
Elder, Senior, or Presbyter. 

INDEPENDENTS, from the independency of each Church in 
its own discipline or government. 

^ BAPTISTS, from the Greek verb Ba^ signifying to bap- 
tize, dip, or immerse. 

P.SSDOBAPTISTS, from the Greek Tints and Bawl* a bap- 
tizer of infants. 

SCOTCH CHURCH, or Kirk, established in Scot/and, by 
means of John Knox, who died 1572. 

SECEDERS, from the Latin secedo, signifying to secede or 
withdraw oneself from any Person or Body. 

MISCELLANEOUS SECTS; 

CALLED, 

QUAKERS, from the agitation with which their first preach- 
ers addressed their auditors. 

METHODISTS, from the Methodical strictness of their 
religious conduct. 

JUMPERS, from the act of Jumping used in their religious 

services. 

MORAVIANS, from Moravia, the country whence they 
first arose. 

UNIVERSALISES, from the belief that all men will be 
fnally happy. 

SANDEMANIANS, from Robert Sandeman, a popular writer 
amongst them. 

SABBATARIANS, from their observance of the Jewish 
Sabbatb, or seventh day, 



300 

HI \ born in \ 

. uho lived in 
11. 

porting I 

from En:.. 

■ 

I thousand, the 
years of Christ's fatal 

A N T K\V COMMANDMENT GIVE I UNTO 

YOU — THAT YE LOV ANOTH1 

JESUS CHRIST. 



THE END, 

oegoeeo 



* 




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